


Sun and Moon

by Mellowyellowdiamonds



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: All kinds of tropes, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff and Angst, League of Assassins - Freeform, Melodramatic, Olicity freeform, Oliver is Ra's Al Ghul, Smut, Terribly cliched plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-08-12 23:17:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 52,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7953028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellowyellowdiamonds/pseuds/Mellowyellowdiamonds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Felicity Smoak is a software consultant by day and small time vigilante by night. One night during a fairly simple (albeit illegal) task her world collides with the League of Assassins. Beautiful and irrepressible she finds herself attracting the attention of their leader who brings her back to Nanda Parbat and is infatuated with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Anyone reading this
> 
> Soooo the writing bug has bitten me again. Season 4 of Arrow was a really rough season for me and to be honest I would probably stop watching the show if it weren't for the awesome actors who play Oliver and Felicity.
> 
> So this story is an attempt to cheer myself up so I can stomach season 5. It is COMPLETELY AU because I cannot stomach the contents of season 4 and need to be as far far far away from that as possible.
> 
> I grew up watching a lot of very melodramatic chinese and korean series and this story takes a lot of elements from these things so we warned that the story is highly wishy washy.

_You are sunlight and I moon_  
_Joined by the gods of fortune_  
_Midnight and high noon_  
_Sharing the sky_  
_We have been blessed, you and I_

Felicity slipped her grey hoodie over her black jeans and black singlet wishing that one could be stealth in color. True she understood the whole camouflaging in black thing but she really despised the color on herself. If only one could do stealth work in pink or yellow and get away with it. Still this was no time to be vain, there was work to be done she told herself as she secured her blonde curls into a tight bun and crammed her black beanie into her pocket. Jeez she was a walking cliché of a hacker/small time crook she thought as she let out a small nervous giggle. 

__

She didn’t know why but she was feeling highly anxious about tonight. She had cased the placed for weeks, signing herself up to work three night shifts per week as a cleaner and finally securing a shift that would allow her access to Malcolm Merlyn’s office. It wasn’t like she even had to sneak into the place. Still there was a stone in the pit of her stomach that she found hard to ignore. Like something bad was going to befall her tonight. She’d normally tell herself to trust her gut but her gut had never felt like this before. Perhaps it was just the dodgy lobster roll she ate at lunch. 

__

Felicity finished off her attire with cheery pink lipstick. After all if she was going to hack into Merlyn Global’s mainframe and expose Malcolm Merlyn for all his evil deeds, she was going to need to feel like herself in order to get her hacking mojo on. She examined her reflection one more time and briefly ran her hands on her mace bottle and smoke grenade. This was probably a bit of an overkill but she had promised dad that she would never partake in any of her “activities” without these two items and although she frequently lied to anyone and everyone easily, her father was someone whom she never lied to. 

__

Dear old dad, Felicity felt a small twinge of sadness as she thought of him. Sure he knew exactly what she was up to in her spare time, much to his dismay, but he’d probably be truly horrified if he saw his princess right now. She was his pride and joy and ever since her mother passed away when she was two years old they only had each other. Felicity didn’t remember much about her mother but her father often told her that she got her bubbliness from her mother. After Donna Smoak passed away from a short and sudden battle with ovarian cancer Noah Kuttler had tried to raise his daughter as best as he could, via extremely unconventional means. Felicity knew her father blamed her life choices on the way he had raised her growing up, after all the apple had not fallen very far from the tree but she recalled the days of her childhood with extreme fondness. She smiled making a mental note to stop by Whipped for an ice cream after tonight’s task was done, a tradition she had kept up all these years despite now working alone without her father. 

__

########

__

This job is going swimmingly, she thought to herself as she waited for the final files to download into her tablet. That lobster roll must have been responsible for the funny feeling in her gut. To be fair she had thought that it smelled a bit suspicious when she ate it. It hadn’t smelled fishy per say but it did smell stronger than usual. Felicity made a mental note to complain to Tom the owner of Summer Salt the next time she stopped by the store. 

__

Felicity glanced down and saw her tablet signaling that her download had completed. Tomorrow Malcolm Merlyn was going down and justice would be served for those three poor murdered scientists and their families. Felicity grinned at herself in the dark and made a move to crawl out from under the desk and resume vacuuming the office. These criminal masterminds were so stupid. All the money and evil resources in the world and they did not take the precautions to protect their systems from people like her. She briefly wondered if perhaps she should have disguised herself more during her shifts but shrugged the idea off. After she releases the information on Merlyn tomorrow, Starling City will be up in arms to lynch him. No one will really care how the information was made public. Plus she had conveniently scrubbed all footage of herself from having ever entered the building. Moments like these Felicity was grateful for her respectable freelancing software engineer consultant day job. There was no way that anyone would think a respectable, bespectacled little consultant would illegally hack into anything in her spare time.

__

She had hauled herself halfway out from under the desk when she heard footsteps rushing furiously into the office. Holy crappity crap she thought. Maybe that bad gut feeling wasn’t the lobster roll after all. She had two options. Either come out calmly and pretend that she had been under there to pick up some rubbish (after all she was legitimately supposed to be cleaning the office tonight) or hide under the desk and prayed that whoever those footsteps belonged to would not come near her (she really would prefer it if no one saw her face as she hoped to release the damning evidence on Merlyn in the next few days and she really, really didn’t want anyone remembering she was in his office). A host of footsteps flew through the door. Felicity silently gulped, option two it was then.

__

“Surrender now Merlyn. We can do this the easy way or the hard way as you wish. We will not be leaving here without you. Dead or alive the choice is yours,” an authoritative voice, with an American accent rang out in the dead of night.

__

“Well well look at you Oliver, or should I say Ra’s Al Ghul. I suppose I should be honored that you personally came to see to my extraction,” answered Merlyn.

__

“I have no time for your remarks or games Merlyn,” the first voice replied. “This is the end of the road for you. You shall be punished for your crimes against humanity.”

__

Oh my goodness stop talking and just cuff him, Felicity was tempted to shout, however she wisely bit her lip and listened nervously. She did not know who this lot were, or what they looked like but they sounded awfully “ninja-y” and if they were apprehending Merlyn, then they surely couldn’t be too bad since Merlyn was definitely, one hundred percent a bad guy. She badly, badly, badly needed them cuff him and drag him off to some ninja lair so she could sneak out of this place. She was not going to stay to finish this cleaning shift! No siree! Not her! This was enough excitement for today! This was the last time she was going to hack onsite anywhere again. It had seemed so exciting at first but she was clearly not made for fieldwork. From now on all her hacking was going to be done at home or in a café with a cup of tea and a pie of cake or pie.

__

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound of clinking metal slicing through air. Was that…..swords??? And arrows??? Really??? Who the hell goes around with swords and who the hell shoots arrows ANYWHERE, least of all in a corporate office? Felicity’s heart did a few leaps and tumbles as she attempted to quietly choke down some air. Things had really descended from bad to worse. She briefly wondered if she could just make a run for it while all the ninjas were fighting Merlyn but the sound of fast clanking metal convinced her that she would most likely be sliced and diced into a million pieces before she made it five steps away. Best to wait it out she thought. Suddenly all the slashing metal stopped and a hushed silence fell upon the room.

__

“I told you there was no way out of this Merlyn,” Oliver, the leader declared (Felicity had taken to calling that voice the leader because he sounded authoritative and because he was obviously Ra’s……whatever! It sounded like an impressive “Leader of the Ninjas” name). Felicity thought she heard what sounded like an arrow fly and hit something with a thunk, followed by the sound of a body dropping. Not that she had much experience with bodies dropping or had even been near a corpse. Back in the day she and dad strictly did petty thief, con artist stuff. They had most certainly never killed anyone or caused anyone’s death. To think she was near a man being killed only five feet or so from her. Not that Merlyn didn’t deserve it, evil bastard that he was, but it was still extremely confronting to witness death beside her. On the bright side she wouldn’t have to release the information on Merlyn and that would minimize her exposure. On the downside she was under desk in a room full of ninjas who had just murdered a man with arrows and swords. Think positive Felicity she reprimanded herself. Maybe they will leave soon and take his body with them now that they are done.

__

“Come out and we may spare your life,” a female voice with an exotic accent called out.

__

Felicity gulped. How did they know she was here anyway? It was pitch-black and she was sure she had been as still as ice. She froze in her position, willing them to think that they had been mistaken and leave.

__

No such luck. A pair of hands dragged her roughly out from under the table. A candle was suddenly lit, illuminating the room with a soft dim light. Candles? Seriously who were these people. Felicity knew that she really was in the weeds this time. Actually forget about weeds, she was knee deep in blue green algae. Perhaps this was why her father had tried so hard to get her an education at MIT in the hopes that she would forget about her colourful childhood with him and just be a hard working corporate suit. As Felicity gazed at each of the three Assassins’ faces, she couldn’t help but think that if she had listened to dad and given up her extra curricular activities she would not be in this predicament today, being stared down by three stone cold looking assassins.

__

“Well hello there. Obviously I am in the wrong place at the wrong time but I can assure you this was all a mistake. You see I was just doing my shift, you know, just cleaning the office, like the hard working girl that I am, trying to earn extra money to pay off my student loans, when I saw some stubborn dirt under the desk that just would not vacuum up so I crawled under there to rough it up a bit so that it would get sucked up easily and that was when your little run in with Mr Merlyn occurred. You see I was going to run out and make you aware of my presence but I heard weapons, lots of sharp weapons and I was worried I’d get cut in the fray. I am a bleeder. Bleed everywhere even from the tiniest of paper cuts. Anyway I didn’t want you to have to mop up my blood or get rid of my bloody body should you have accidentally killed me in that fight so I was hoping you’d leave and I wouldn’t see your faces and you wouldn’t see me………Oh my god you are going to kill me aren’t you?” She finished off her long rant with a yelp.

__

Felicity took a breath and studied the faces around her. There was a brunette with free flowing brown curls who was glaring at her ferociously, that one definitely wanted to kill her. The blond with her hair in a braid did not look as intimidating as far as ninjas go. In fact she was flashing Felicity a rather amused grin as if Felicity’s little speech had entertained her greatly. 

__

Felicity’s breath hitched a little when she stopped at the third face. He was by far the most handsome specimen of a man she had ever seen. His hair was shaved close to his head and he had the perfect amount of stubble, encasing a drool worthy jawline. His eyes were deep wells of blue and she could sense that there were rippling muscles under that ninja gear. If Felicity did not fear for her life at that moment she would totally be drooling over him. And she was not the type to drool over muscles on random men. She had always been much too busy for such shenanigans. He stared at her with an intense brooding gaze, however she could see the corners of his mouth were curved up slightly, as if he were trying to suppress a smile.

__

Her sense of relief attained from the fact that two out of the three faces was not completely hostile was short lived when it suddenly dawned on her that they were not wearing masks. She was toast. She had seen their faces and they would surely kill her and bury her in a mass grave somewhere. This was what always happened in the movies. She did the only thing she could think of. She slammed down the smoke grenade that she had concealed in her hand as hard as she could and ran blindly for the door. Felicity sprinted as fast as she could towards the lifts, clutching onto her tablet for dear life. She knew she’d probably gain speed if she ditched it but if she could momentarily get away from these ninjas, she could send out an alert for help. Felicity approached the lift and quickly calculated the risks. They were ninjas and could probably fly down the stairs at her if she were to take the stairs. She would most likely be able to jam the lifts if she made it into the lifts and shut down all the doors. Then she could program the lift to drop to ground floor. Lifts it was. Felicity was one foot from the lift doors when she felt a hand grabbing her shoulder. 

__

“Do not kill the girl,” she heard the leader’s orders. 

__

Without turning to see whose hand it was on her shoulder she reached into her hoodie pocket and grabbed the can of mace spray. Felicity squeezed the can with all her might and sprayed with gusto, hitting the brunette ninja square in the face.

__

She squeezed through the lift doors, just as they were closing and proceeded to start reprogramming the lift. Felicity stopped to take a few breaths as the lift doors bolted shut and the lifts started to descend towards ground floor. Her reprieve was short lived. A few seconds later there was a small-scale explosion above her head and she froze in horror as she watched leader ninja jump down, landing lightly on his feet beside her.

__

“Do not scream or yell Tinker Bell unless you want to end up with the same fate as Merlyn,” he whispered into her ear, pushing her against the wall encasing her small frame with his large muscly one. Felicity stared up at him, her big blue eyes wide with fear. Tinker Bell. Here she was trapped in a lift with a ninja who was probably going to kill her and he had called her Tinker Bell. Did ninjas read Peter Pan or watch Disney movies in their spare time? Felicity felt an edge of hysteria creep upon her as she tried to pull herself away from the wall, pushing back on him. She was so exhausted. The adrenalin was subsiding and now she just felt weary. Unable to make him budge she slumped against his body, her nose buried in his chest. He actually smelled kind of nice for a ninja. Like grass. Not that she thought ninjas would be smelly. Her gut was churning again. Suddenly she could feel that lobster roll making it’s way up. Her surroundings went black and the last thing she remembered was that she had taken great satisfaction in aiming at him as she hurled up the contents of her lunch.

__


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has a plan. Not the best plan ever but still a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!
> 
> Thank you sooo much for your kudos and comments. I am thinking of updating this at least once a week. Every Wednesday, Aussie time.
> 
> Just want to warn you guys that this will veer into really wishy washy Chinese series, trope ridden territory so best to get out now if that's not your kind of thing!

“I say we kill her now like League protocols dictate to avoid any further trouble.”

“No, we cannot kill her. That is not an option.”

“What if we just let her go? With a few well delivered warnings. She seems like a smart girl who would want to avoid trouble.”

“She’s also a girl who will not submit easily, as evidenced by my currently injury.”

“To be fair Nyssa, you can be damn scary sometimes and the poor girl was just defending herself. I still say we let her go. Maybe a drug and drop.”

“Sara in the hundreds of years that the League has been formed no witnesses have ever been set free.”

“We are not harming her. My decision is final.”

“You forget My Lord that even you as Ra’s Al Ghul do not have the authority to flout League laws.”

“I am well aware of that Nyssa and I caution that you watch your tone when addressing me. We will bring her back with us.”

“Whatever for? She has no form to train as an Assassin and is far too attractive to be a servant. She will cause too much trouble.”

“She shall be my consort.”

Felicity was sure the last time she read about a consort was in a period novel where the lead character was a reigning monarch. Clearly things had gone from bad to worse and the only consolation was that she wasn’t dead and five feet under. Felicity’s life long motto has always been that as long as she wasn’t dead there was still a fighting chance. So apparently she was wrong. Assassins, not ninjas. She wondered briefly what was worse. Yup, Assasins were definitely worse. By definition they were there to kill anything and everything. Ninjas just had mad skills. 

Trying her best to be discrete she squinted and opened one eye to check out her surroundings. She was on a bed with crisp white sheets situated in the middle of a sparsely furnished room. She was wearing a silk nightgown. Nice she thought. Felicity did not wear silk normally. She couldn’t afford silk, besides she was cheap and would not buy silk even if she could afford it. Cotton served her just fine. The three assassins were still too engrossed in a discussion over her fate to notice her. There was definitely nowhere to run. Plus they might just stab her if she made any sudden movements. That brunette Nyssa seemed awfully eager to kill her off.

“We know you’re awake,” the blonde Sara called out with a hint of mirth in her voice.

“Hi there, Assassins! Thank you for not killing me,” Felicity sat up and waved at them awkwardly, trying to look as friendly as possible so as to not incur any further wrath from them. She flinched as she noticed that the top half of Nyssa’s face was peeling and bright purple. Ouch, no wonder the woman was after her blood.

The most prudent thing to do would have been to remain silent. However the stress of the situation was too much for Felicity to handle and she really didn’t fancy becoming a consort, even to a man as white hot as Mr Leader Assassin. Plus who knows, he might be just like Blue Beard and one day her head might end up in the dungeon with his other wives. Felicity decided to try her luck and talk her way out of this one. Things really couldn’t get any worse. She mustered her most winning smile and launched into one of her epic rants. 

“Look everyone, Mr Lead Assassin in particular because you are the boss. Sorry I am just going to call you Mr Lead Assassin because that’s what you look like. Actually did you want me to call you Oliver? Sounds awfully friendly to call you Oliver, since you and I are not friends and I threw up on you and all. By the way I am so sorry about that! Bad lobster roll. I probably shouldn’t have aimed at you but to be fair you did blow up the roof of the lift and then body blocked me. Anyways, I digress. Since I was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time how about you just let me go and I swear on my latest laptop that I will not tell a soul about you or the other assassins or talk about any assassins at all! I mean who would believe me anyway. They’d lock me in the nuthouse. Plus I am sure that if I ever did rat on you, one of you could just camp across my building and take me out with an arrow or something. So what do you say guys? Would you mind awfully if I just skedaddled out of here and pretend tonight never happened?”

Phew! That went on a lot longer than she intended. And did she really curtsey at him? Felicity cursed her blabbering mouth and twitchy reflexes. It tended to run out of control when she was faced with stressful situations and this was definitely a stressful situation. Still she got her point across she thought.

“Did you just curtsey?” Lead Assassin let out a small chuckle, unable to contain his amusement. The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He quickly regained his composure and motioned to the to women to leave.

“Sara and Nyssa I will handle this matter from here. You may resume attending to our other business. I will take care of things and return to Nanda Parbat shortly.”

Take care of things. Felicity wondered if he was going to off her after all.

“My Lord you will do well to remember League protocols,” Nyssa shot him a warning look.

“And you will do well to remember your place,” he replied through clenched teeth, clearly irate by her challenge of his authority.

“Good luck and don’t cause anymore trouble,” Sara whispered to Felicity sympathetically as she and Nyssa exited the room. Felicity decided she liked this Sara. She looked like she had a sense of humour and she had advocated letting Felicity go.

They were alone now. Lead Assassin made his way to the bed and sat down beside her. She instinctively shuffled backwards away from him. The concept of being a consort did not sit well with her. He reached down and stroked her cheek, ever so gently.

“I want to let you go Tinker Bell. However you have witnessed League business and seen all our faces. Even as Ra’s Al Ghul I do not have the authority to release you. You are to come back with me to Nanda Parbat as my consort. I will be able to protect you that way. I will see to it that you will be well taken care of. Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow we will leave for Nanda Parbat.” He smiled gently at her as he reached out and smoothed down her curls. 

Felicity sat stonily, trying to process the situation as he continued to play with her hair. She believed that he genuinely thought her was doing the right thing by her. 

“Please just let me go home,” she finally sobbed, suddenly feeling tired and defeated. Nothing made sense anymore. It was all beginning to feel so very surreal. She had a life, she had clients and consulting contracts that were due over the next few months. Why was she in this room with this man who was threatening to take her goodness knows where to do goodness knows what. It was all too much for her and finally Felicity felt her spirit had well and truly been crushed. She sobbed loudly, big fat teardrops running down her face. She wailed as shrilly as she could. Consort her ass! If he could see what an ugly crier she was maybe he’d abandon his crappy plan to take her back to his lair. She could feel the snot dripping down her nose but made no attempts to hide it or wipe it away.

“See how ugly I am?” she howled with all her might. “Don’t take me back!!! I’m just an ugly howling girl. Please let me go. I’ve got a whole life to live. Please don’t lock me up,” she sobbed as loudly as she could, throwing herself fully into the torment and tragedy of the situation.

He gently wiped her tears and snot away with what appeared to be a large handkerchief. She briefly wondered where he had the handkerchief stashed and thought that it was an incredible display of good manners for an Assassin to carry a clean handkerchief around in case of crying, snotty prisoners. He lightly kissed her hair and rubbed small circles on her back. “There there, don’t cry Tinker Bell. Please don’t cry anymore. If there really were any other way I’d let you go.” He wrapped both arms around her and kissed her head softly between her loud sobs.

Felicity upon hearing his words and processing the finality of the situation, the reality that he was not going to let her go, found herself clinging onto him and burying her head into his shoulder, sobbing louder than ever. 

######## 

Felicity sat gloomily on the plane and quietly surveyed her surroundings. After having a good cry in his very strong manly arms (she was ashamed to admit his physical appearance affected her terribly despite her predicament) Felicity had pulled up her big girl socks, put on the clean change of clothes that had been provided to her and obediently allowed herself to be kidnapped. Not before hiding the small smart watch that Ray had given her on her 21st Birthday. Obviously the League of Assassins or whoever they were, were not very technologically advanced. They had confiscated her tablet but left her watch on, presumably thinking it was just a trinket of sorts. As soon as she could lose them she would find a wifi connection and send out an alert for help. After all if there was Wi-Fi, there was hope.

She found her thoughts wondering to the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. She had definitely gone through denial, bargaining and depression. Acceptance was not an option and now she was angry as hell. Felicity let out a small, aggravated huff and glared at her surroundings, her eyes suddenly falling on what she thought may be a parachute. There was a pile of them lying beside the plane door. She peered at the pile of beige looking backpacks. Yup there was a cord right on the side. Must be the cord to release the parachute. Her heart began to thump wildly as she pondered the consequences of what she had planned. If she was wrong she was going to fall to her death but if she was right, she had a fighting chance. She could wait for the right moment to jump, make her way to civilization and alert Dad for help. True she was petrified of heights and had no idea when she was supposed to release the cord. Felicity recalled seeing a documentary once where it was stated that you were as good as dead if you pulled the parachute at the wrong time.

Maybe it was better to wait for Dad. He would soon realize that something was wrong when she doesn’t show up for their bi monthly get together. From the day she moved out to go to MIT, her father who was paranoid and slightly over protective had demanded that he was to see her in person every two months. No calls, texts or emails were acceptable. At first, Felicity had thought this was overkill. She spent most of her holidays and breaks with him but after she graduated and took up her fast paced life, she found herself reminiscing her childhood and missing her father. The monthly catch-ups became something she looked forward to.

According to her calculations it was going to be another fortnight before she was due to see Dad. A lot of things could happen to her in a fortnight if she survived that long with these people. Felicity shuddered at the thought and absentmindedly wrapped her arms around herself. It looked like she was going to take up skydiving as a hobby today.

“Are you cold?” she jumped visibly and flinched at the sound of his voice. Her heart started racing and she suddenly felt panicked that maybe he was reading her mind. Her fears were somewhat calmed when he produced a soft grey blanket and proceeded to tuck it around her.

“Jesus, didn’t anyone ever teach you not to sneak up on people like that?” she snapped, glaring at him. “I suppose you’re a ninja, no wait sorry my bad, assassin so it’s kind of a thing to sneak up on people huh?”

“You pout when you get angry Tinker Bell,” he observed, a ghost of a smile settle on his face briefly before it resettled into his standard solemn expression. 

“I think you need to stop with the Tinker Bell thing. Why Tinker Bell anyway? Do I look like a green blonde fairy to you?”

“As a child I read a book about a mischievous blond little fairy. It was the first thing that entered my mind after you caused much chaos in the building and attempted to escape from us.” He looked longingly at her hair, as if he wanted to reach out and touch it again. She could swear that he was making heart eyes at her. 

“What is your name? If you don’t want me to keep calling you Tinker Bell tell me your name,” he asked her suddenly, reaching out again to find her hand. What was it with him and touching her, Felicity wondered. He didn’t touch her anywhere in appropriate but she noticed that he was always reaching out for some sort of contact whenever he could. She wondered what his deal was. 

For a brief moment Felicity debated whether it was wiser to keep her identity from him a secret, then she thought what did it matter anyway. Things were not going to matter much after today

“Felicity,” she replied, “My name is Felicity.”

“Felicity,” he echoed, gently encompassing her tiny hand in his large wide one. “Intense joy. It suits you.”

“Well there’s not much joy to be had right now is there?” She raised an eyebrow at him and looked pointedly at the hand that he was holding. “So what’s the plan?”

“The plan?”

“Yeah what are you going to do with me when you bring me back to your lair? Are you going to lock me up in a tower? Are you going to have your wicked way me? Do you have other consorts, as you like to call it? What’s the plan?”

“Are you jealous?” he retorted with a small mischievous glint.

“No I am just freaking out at the idea of being a consort,” she shudders. 

“I would NEVER force myself upon you. The title is just to protect you.” He actually had the gall to look earnest, like he was hurt that she could think so badly of him. “And no there are not other consorts.” 

He pondered for a moment before adding, “If you object to the term consort perhaps you’d like to marry me and receive the title of Wife?”

Felicity snorted loudly. He was just messing with her now. Well she was not going to let him have the satisfaction of seeing her rattled, even if she was really beyond rattled. More like in full fledged panic mode.

“Lucky me. Are there other wives?”

“I’d say you’re jealous Felicity if you keep asking asking about other wives and consorts,” he retorted, kneeling in front of her, his face merely inches from her, their noses almost touching.

Felicity blinked. Was he flirting with her? Was he really kidnapping her and flirting with her.

“Nope not jealous. Just don’t want to end up with my head hanging in Blue Beard’s chambers.”

“Oh you’ll end up in my chambers eventually but you’ll be alive and having a lot of fun,” he countered suggestively.

Felicity yanked her hand back and made an attempt to push him away from her. She had, had enough. This was bullshit. She was being kidnapped against her will and here he was flirting with her like they were at a nightclub. 

She sucked in a deep breath of air, willed herself to look at least two inches taller and unleashed her fury on him.

“Look buddy, just because you are as hot as hell and look like a Calvin Klein model it does not mean I am going to look past the fact that this is a kidnapping! As long as I am alive I will cause you as much trouble as I can and if you kill me I will curse you for eternity and haunt you.”

“You must feel something for me if you’re going to wait around for me even in death,” he answered serenely, causing Felicity to let out a yelp of frustration.

“Before you start blaming me for this series of unfortunate events have you considered Felicity that it was your own life choices that led you here. You were alone in the dark, surrounded by three assassins.” She glared at him and opened her mouth to protest but he lightly touched a finger to her lips to stop her from speaking as he continued, “Even taking the League out of the equation, you were right outside Malcolm Merlyn’s secret room. The room where he trains frequently every night. Malcolm Merlyn is the Dark Archer but did you know that? No you didn’t, did you Felicity? You thought he was just a suit who paid to have a few people murdered. You did not realize he could kill someone like yourself five times over with his bare hands.”  
His tone with neither smug nor angry. He sounded like he was calmly relaying facts to a petulant child. Felicity deflated a little, realizing that maybe her research on Merlyn was not as thorough as she had thought. Anything with a computer trail she could find. She had no way of knowing whom amongst the general public possessed super ninja skills. Realising she had come off second best in this exchange and that he was not going to be persuaded to let her go Felicity turned her face away from him and closed her eyes. 

####

They were flying over land now. Felicity peered outside the plane window. Through the clouds she could patches of brown and green. Judging by the time that had passed she guessed that they would be landing soon. She glanced around and saw that Oliver was engaged in deep conversation with the pilot in a foreign language. 

She calculated that with her seat being in the middle of the plane, she was only a mere three feet from the stack of parachutes. Would his assassin skills be fast enough to reach her if she decided to make a break for it? Were assassins slower than ninjas? He might be a slow assassin for all that she knew. Good at killing people with weapons and stuff but slow. Now was the time to look on the bright side. 

Seeing that Oliver was still speaking to the pilot, Felicity closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, loosened her shoulders and made a dash towards the back of the plane. She grabbed a parachute, threw the straps onto her shoulders, yanked the exit hatch open and jumped. As the force of the wind sucked her out of the plane, the last thing she could see was the look of utter terror on his face as she floated away to freedom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity gets rescued and has some quality bonding time with Oliver!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo!
> 
> Yaaaay I made it a day early! This chapter is full of tropes galore! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your encouragement so far. I don't do anything remotely literary related in my real life so writing is difficult for me but I think it's good for my brain so I keep it up! 
> 
> See you next Wednesday!

Her arms and legs were flailing about as she desperately tried to control her limbs and her breathing at the same time. For some reason she was plummeting a lot faster than she had anticipated. The speed at which she was falling terrified her and she clung on desperately to her harness as if it would somehow provide her with protection and save her from plunging to her death. As Felicity fell she was pushed through the clouds and a burst cold air slapped her face. The temperature suddenly felt bone chillingly cold and Felicity found she was having trouble getting enough air into her lungs to breath. 

She wondered if she had briefly lost consciousness during her freefall because she could not recall when she had deployed her parachute but suddenly the ordeal began to feel a lot calmer. She pushed her fear of heights to the back of her mind and concentrated on finding a suitable spot to land. Her efforts were in vain as she soon discovered she had little to no control over the parachute and was heading towards what looked like a forest of trees. Realising that she had no control over where she was going to land Felicity prayed silently to the universe that she would still be alive and that her limbs would still be intact upon landing.

This must be what a deal with the devil looks like Felicity thought as she analysed her predicament. Nothing appeared to be broken and she was definitely alive. However her parachute was lodged in the branches of an enormous tree leaving her dangling about 50 feet into the air. Felicity had once read that a fall of 16 feet could be fatal to an average person and she was dangling from a distance well beyond that. She glanced around desperately hoping to see a stray branch that she could cling on in order to make climb her way to the trunk of the tree and down it. It was not her lucky day. There was nothing but empty space around her. 

“HELP ME!!!! HELP!!!!! HELP!!!!!” she screamed desperately into the wilderness, despite knowing that it was all in vain. She had been so close. For a few glorious moments she had been free again. Now she was going to die of dehydration while hanging off a tree. She began to lose concept of time. She had no idea how long she had been hanging from that tree, how many times she had tried to call out for help and when she stopped calling. 

“Feeeeeliiiiiiiciteeeeee!!!!!!! Feeeeeliiiiiiiciteeeeee!!!!!!! Feeeeeliiiiiiiciteeeeee!!!!!!” the trees shouted back at her. At least she thought it was the trees. She could feel herself slowly slipping out of consciousness as the trauma of her entire experience was beginning to take its toll on her small body. 

“HELP ME PLEASE,” she called back, vaguely wondering why she was talking to the voices in her head.

“Feeeeeliiiiiiiciteeeeee!!!!!!!!” the voice was closer and closer now and then like a dream he materialized in front of her looking like a Disney prince with his defined jawline and piercing blue eyes. Definitely more brooding than a Disney prince she thought. He wouldn’t sing Once Upon a Dream and dance with her. 

“Felicity I need you to focus, can you listen to me and focus?” Words were coming out of his mouth and she was trying so hard to listen to him but it was all scrambled in her head like white noise. So much white noise. She was so tired and sleepy. She liked white noise, she even had a white noise machine when she was little to help her sleep. Sleep, she needed sleep.

“TINKER BELL!!!!!!” 

The words rang in her ears and jolted her with a start. She blinked rapidly and stared at him, willing herself to clear her head and focus on his words.

“Felicity we need to get you down. I am going to shoot this arrow to one tree, extend the Para cord to a lower tree to create a zip line. The zip line will go right past you. Then I am going to climb up this tree and across the zip line to where you are and cut you from the parachute. Now do you think you have enough strength to cling onto me tight while I get us to safety?” He spoke clearly but gently as if he were trying to sooth a wounded animal. Even in her hazy state Felicity could not help but notice the concern in his eyes. He looked worried and slightly guilty. Like he would blame himself if she didn’t survive this.

“Yes, yes I can do that,” she replied shakily, her voice sounding like a hoarse croak. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing her brain to cancel out all the white noise and focus on the task at hand. She was going to live. She was not going to die alone here. 

He set up the zip line apparatus deftly and then proceeded to climb the tree and make his way to her with ease. “Hold onto me tightly Felicity. Try to wrap your legs around me as well if you can,” he instructed gently.

“I always thought I’d be having sex when I hear those words, not dangling from a tree in the forest,” she mumbled as she obediently wrapped her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck. He let out an amused chuckle and she buried her face deep into his chest to avoid his gaze. 

He held onto the pulley with one arm and cut the straps of her parachute with his free arm. Then he gave a little push forward and Felicity once again felt herself sailing through the air.

#####

This business of passing out at every turn was becoming a bad habit Felicity decided. Still she felt oddly well rested. There was some faint sunlight peeking through the trees indicating that it was early morning. She must have been out of it for an entire day. 

After recalling the events of her dramatic escape and rescue, Felicity braced herself to incur his wrath. He had jumped out of a plane after her. Sure he had most likely done it with skill and finesse but still he had jumped after her. It was at this moment that Felicity realized he was not going to let her go. Whether he had jumped to ensure that he could drag her back or jumped because he knew that without his help she was not going to survive the jump, one thing was clear. She meant something to him. Obsession, infatuation, object of amusement, whatever it was she was his focal point and there was no escaping from him. 

He cleared his throat and stared at her intensely for what felt like an eternity. To her utter amazement he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a fierce hug. “You scared me to death you know that. When I saw you flying out of that plane I thought I’d never see you again.” 

Okaaay, Felicity thought to herself, unsure of what to make of the situation. Was he rubbing her back? Really? Be smart with your next move Smoak. Choose your words wisely. She wriggled a little in his arms and looked up at him.

“Would that really have been such a bad thing?” she asked, frowning a little. As soon as the words left her mouth, she mentally cursed herself.

“Yes Felicity, it would,” he responded with a hint of amusement in his voice. The intense look returned again as he let go of her and cupped her face with his hands. “The world, my world, would be much bleaker without you in it. I know it sounds crazy Felicity since I’ve just met you but you bring light into my life. Even if you’ve proven to be a handful and a half so far.”

“Umm, that’s very intense. You sure about that?” she smiled nervously at him. This exchange was not going as she had planned. Not that she really planned for it to go a particular way since it’s not every day that a girl gets kidnapped by a hot assassin who flirts with her and then rescues her. She reached up and gingerly pulled his hands away from her face. “You………you um seem awfully attached me. I mean you’ve survived nooooo let me rephrase that THRIVED without me all these years. I mean you’ve even made it to become Ra’s wotchacallit, Big Boss Man of all the Assassins and all. You don’t need little old me do you?”

Felicity felt sure she would have gone on for a little while longer had she not spotted the sad, haunted look that crossed his face. All of a sudden she felt like a very small mean woman. Despite her resentment towards him for kidnapping her, the man had just jumped out of a plane and presumably trekked around the forest to save her and here she was yammering on and hurting his feelings. 

Felicity sighed. She would try to find another way to escape, a more solid and well thought out plan next time. In the interim there was no need to be mean to him. Felicity never believed in doing anything by halves. She launched herself at him wholeheartedly and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you for saving me! Jumping out of that plane was not my best idea ever. Thank you for jumping after me.” She looked up at him to gauge his reaction, to see whether that sad look had left his face. He draped his arms around her shoulder and pulled her against him for another hug. They stayed like that for a while until her tummy started to rumble.

######

“Are you sure that’s ripe? What about that one up there?”

“Which one?”

“Two papayas up on the left. That looks more orange.”

“Felicity, we’re trying not to starve. This is not Wholefoods!” he was sounding exasperated. Felicity could not contain her excitement when he had found them a small patch of papaya trees growing in the middle of nowhere. The yellow orangey fruit hanging off the trees reminded her of the many trips to “Pick Your Own” fruit farms that her dad had taken her to when she was little. Felicity always felt a little giddy when she saw fresh fruit still on the tree tree. 

“Ooooh you know about Wholefoods? Who buys your groceries? Or do you only eat a special assassin diet?” Now that she had made peace with the fact that she was probably going to be stuck with him for a while, Felicity was feeling incredibly chatty and curious. Everything about Oliver was mysterious and if there was one thing Felicity could not resist it was a good mystery to solve. Since she was not getting away from the man anytime soon she was determined to find out what made him tick. 

“Felicity! Focus!”

“Sorry, fruit affects my judgment. I think I’m suffering from a severe case of too much choice. Can you give me a boost?”

He let out an exasperated huff but gave her the boost she requested. Felicity balanced precariously against the tree, with Oliver’s arms supporting her legs and stretched her arms as far as she could until she reached the golden orange oval fruit she had her heart set on. She was just about to celebrate when she felt herself slip. This was going to hurt she thought as she braced herself for impact but instead found herself landing in his steady arms. He had caught her, papaya and all.

“Oooh great reflexes,” she smiled sunnily at him, pleased that her perfect papaya was still in tact.

“No more picking your own papayas,” he shook his head, both slightly vexed and amused at the same time. 

#######

“Oliver, I hate to ask this and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or rude since you saved me and all. But you know what to be fair you did kidnap me and that was why I jumped so it’s not entirely my fault that we are lost in the middle of nowhere but anyways what I wanted to ask is…….”

“Yes I know the way out,” he interrupted her before she could finish her question.

“You know the way out of here?”

“Yes like the back of my hand.” Seeing her quizzical expression he continued. “This place also serves as a training facility for new League recruits.”

“So you have a plan?”

“Felicity what is it with you and plans? Terrible plans may I add,” he laughed, suddenly looking so much lighter and unburdened. Felicity felt her stomach flutter a little. She wondered if maybe she had eaten more papaya than she should. Must be the enzymes wreaking havoc in her tummy.

“I like plans. I think that’s my failing. I have too many plans, some not particularly well thought out but because there is a plan in place it gives me a false sense of security. Hence the predicament I’m in right now,” she smiled sheepishly at him.

“We’re about 50 miles from Nanda Parbat. If I were alone I would continue the journey overnight but you’ve been through enough today. The sun is going to set soon so we’ll find a place to set up camp and continue tomorrow.”

“You mean we’re going to sleep here? In the wilderness? With the bears?” She gulped at the idea of spending the night with bears. As nimble as he was she doubt that he could best a bear, and even if he could she didn’t want it on her conscience that some poor big bear should suffer for her poor choices. 

“There are no bears in these woods Felicity. Just deers and antelope,” he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “And I know how to get away from animals without hurting them,” he added as if reading her mind. We just need to walk for another few miles. There’s a cave that I’ve used a couple of times next to a lake that you can bath in. You’ll feel better after you’ve had a swim in the lake but you better do it before the sun starts going down. It can get pretty chilly here at night.”

#####

After an awkward exchange where she had inadvertently invited him to stay and scrub her down, Oliver had gallantly offered to gather firewood nearby where he wouldn’t see her in her underwear but would be within earshot. Seeing that she was alone Felicity decided to forgo the underwear altogether having no desire to wear soggy underwear. 

The water was crystal clear and cool against her skin. Felicity could see all the rocks and pebbles under foot and tiny little fishes swam around her, some braver ones occasionally nibbling on her toes and ankles. Felicity felt very light and airy. She hopped a little and splashed the water around with her arms. After hours of trekking with minimal rest, she almost felt human again. 

That was when she spotted it. A large elongated, tube like creature swimming around her.

“Oliver……..Oliver I think I need help,” she called nervously, unsure as to whether he could hear her, too afraid to raise her voice in case the creature would hear her and pounce. She stayed there, rooted in the spot as the creature swam around her.

It did not take him long to emerge from the bushes, concern written on his face.

“Felicity!”

“Oliver I think there is a snake swimming around me,” she tilted her head at the water, not daring to lift her arms to point at the creature. 

In a split second she saw his hand flick and suddenly there was a small bloom of red spreading slowly across the water. She watched in horror as the red bloom continued to spread, unable to move despite being well aware that the blood was not hers. He quickly pulled off his boots and ran in to retrieve the creature’s body and the throwing star that was imbedded in it. 

“It’s just an eel,” he announced calmly, and Felicity immediately felt her body relax. 

“Is it edible?” she blurted out.

“That was not quite the response I was expecting from you.” His voice sounded tense. An uncomfortable silence settled over them. Felicity bit her bottom lip, wondering if he was judging her for the death of the eel and suggesting they eat it. Felicity felt terrible about the eel and was once again faced with the uncomfortable feeling that had she not jumped out of the plane, the eel would still be alive, frolicking in the clear water.

“I feel really bad about the poor eel,” she defended herself earnestly. “I obviously over reacted but since it’s my fault that the poor eel died, we should at least eat it so that it’s death wasn’t a complete waste.” 

“Felicity I’m not judging you about the eel.”

“Why are you suddenly on edge then?”

“Felicity, you’re nude. You’re nude and I’m trying my best to be a gentleman but you’re nude and you need to go put some clothes on so help me God.”

“Do assassins believe in God?”

“FELICITY!”

“Ooh,” she responded. Her first instinct was to cover herself but she hadn’t a stitch of clothing on and any attempt to do so would just look plain silly. She took a few steps to a clear patch of water, gave her body a quick rinse and walked out of the water with as much dignity as she could muster. 

#####

The temperature had unmistakably dropped by several degrees just as he had warned her. As she shivered for the hundredth time in her long sleeve hoodie which was now covered in dirt and grass stains, Felicity pondered whether it would be warmer to sleep next to the fire and risk waking up cold near a draught when the fire died down or sleep inside the cave further away from the warm fire. 

She was still shivering when she felt something heavy drape over her shoulder and looked up to see that he had taken off his assassin robes and draped them over her. “You should probably sleep here tonight,” he gestured at a pile of moss neatly laid out. “I’ll keep the fire going, it gets very cold just before dawn.”

“But what about you?” Felicity protested. “You can’t stay up all night. Besides you’ve got to lead us back to civilization and you can’t do it if you’re not well rested.” She paused and peered around suspiciously, “We might get eaten by bears if you’re not on the ball. Or if you accidentally fall asleep.”

“I promise you there are no bears here Felicity.” Seeing her features smooth out, her face visibly more relaxed he added with a wicked chuckle, “But there are wolves.”

“How about we take turns tending to the fire? I’ll sleep for half the night, you sleep for the other half of the night?” She suggested patiently, ignoring his crack about the wolves. 

“Felicity, I’ve gone for a more than a week without sleep. More times than I care to remember. It’s what we were trained to do. Two days without sleep is not going to kill me. It’s nothing,” he shrugged. There it was again. That look she couldn’t decipher. It was the look that tugged at her heartstrings and enticed her to forget that in reality, she was still his captive. She wondered again what had happened to this man and how he had come to lead a bunch of assassins. 

“Doesn’t mean it’s good for you and that you should be doing it,” she admonished, gently placing her hand on his arm, before deciding that these timid displays of affection were not her style. The man looked like he needed a good cuddle. 

He lifted her hand from his arm and slowly pulled her in for a tentative hug, like he was scared that she would rebuke him. It was as awkward as hell but Felicity felt that there was something strangely endearing about it. Strange, it was all so very strange. Her tummy gave another funny twirl. It was probably the roasted eel she ate. Very fatty that eel was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity finally sets foot in Nanda Parbat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaay me! I beat the Wednesday deadline!
> 
> Thank you for reading and for all your lovely comments! 
> 
> Apparently I am meant to tag things or people will get cross! I am relatively new to this whole fanfic business so I will go back and tag stuff!
> 
> I will see you next Wednesday (28 September)!

“At the risk of sounding like cranky child Oliver…….are we there yet?” Felicity groaned as she dragged her feet along, falling behind him again for what seemed like the one-hundredth time. She guessed that it must be almost midday, the sun was blazing in the middle of the sky, it’s scorching heat hitting her sensitive skin. Felicity winced as she thought of the number of freckles that were going to sprout on her nose after this. What she would give for a wide brimmed sunhat right now.

He stopped and waited for her to catch up, looking like he was on an easy light stroll as opposed to trekking for hours through rocky terrain and spikey shrubs. 

“How is it that I am so unfit compared to you,” she puffed. “I do my 10,000 Fitbit steps a day! Why do I feel like I’m going to die?”

“Assassin Felicity! I’ve had some practice doing this over the years.” He seemed almost jovial today; there was no trace of the vulnerable man she saw last night.

“Can we rest for fifteen minutes, pleeeease. I know you want to get there before sunrise and I am not keen to sleep in another cave or log but I really need to rest.” 

“We’re almost there Felicity, only an hour or so to go. Here, hop on. I’ll give you a lift the rest of the way.” He crouched down and waited expectantly for her to hop onto his back.

“Nononononono,” Felicity protested, pulling herself up and attempted to resume walking again. “I am not riding you for the next hour.”

Felicity could feel her face burning as soon as the words left her mouth. “I mean ride on your back. Not ride you in other ways. Oh my God why didn’t you just leave me in the forest to die?”

“Because then I wouldn’t be treated to all this entertainment,” he replied, his eyes twinkling, the corners of his smile threatening to tip up into a smile. “Come on Felicity, just hop on. You barely weigh anything.”

Sensing that it would indeed be easier on both of them if she just hopped on, Felicity reluctantly climbed on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Is this ok? I’m not holding onto your neck too tightly am I?”

“It’s perfect Felicity. Never felt better.”

###################

“Oliver since we’re almost there I think I should walk the rest of the way.”

“Why would you need to do that?”

“If you’re the Head Demon should you be greeting your minions with some girl you’ve captured sitting on your back? I didn’t think it would do much for your image that’s all.”

“Felicity I’m touched you think about my image at all. See we’re making progress. And it’s The Demon’s Head by the way.”

“I mean it Oliver! I’ve been thinking about what you said, about how you can’t just disregard century old League laws and just let me go. I’m sure that League laws would frown upon their Leader giving girls piggy back rides.”

He didn’t answer her but instead flipped her over easily into his arms, carrying her bridal style instead.

“That better?” he teased, smiling at her. He was even more heartbreakingly handsome when he smiled. For a shameful moment Felicity wondered if it would be such a bad thing to throw caution to the wind and have a crazy torrid affair with this man. The circumstances of how they met, the way he claimed that he felt about her. None of that made any sense anyhow. Maybe she should just go with it and see where this lunacy would take her. 

Despite committing felonies left, right and centre she fancied herself as a rather risk adverse person. Her life was strictly planned out and orderly. She had her legitimate work, a group of friends she socialized with and a carefully constructed bubble around her that most people were not aware of. She shied away from any complicated attachments that could wreak havoc in her life. And complicated did not even begin to describe Oliver. 

“Welcome to Nanda Parbat Felicity,” he gently whispered in her ear. 

The words jolted her from her reverie. Her jaw dropped as she took in the site that besieged her. Hundreds and hundreds of black uniformed assassins (she assumed they were assassins) stood in neat rows, staring solemnly ahead with no discernable expressions on their faces. Behind them amongst a backdrop of vast mountain ranges stood a magnificent palace carved out of stone.

A tall, slender woman with long shiny chestnut locks approached them. She wore a skintight black cat suit that made Felicity wonder how on earth was she not passed out from heat exhaustion in this weather. Felicity propped herself up slightly in Oliver’s arms to get a better look at the army of assassins lined up before them. She just HAD to find out how many female assassins there were and if they too were sporting leather cat suits. A quick peek indicated that they were too in cat suits but not made of leather. Theirs looked to be a lighter fabric. Stretch jersey perhaps. Felicity wondered if she would also be issued with a standard edition stretch jersey cat suit or a leather one. Ugh, black again. Gosh she detested that colour. Perhaps they’d let her bedazzle hers.

“My Lord! We’re so happy that you’re safely back. I took the liberty of gathering everyone here to welcome you and your new concubine,” she attempted to smile brightly at them however the smile did not reach her eyes. 

“Laurel what is the meaning of this? You know the last thing I wanted was a big fuss?” Oliver asked through clenched teeth.

“My lord you announced that you were taking a concubine and you know that tradition dictates that you must show her off to the League,” Laurel replied calmly however with a hint of a sneer in her voice.

Game on Felicity thought. I did not get a full scholarship to MIT to get called a frigging concubine. 

“Consort actually,” she corrected the other woman politely but firmly. “Actually I wasn’t keen on the term consort either but in the interests of harmony I’m going to let you all get away with consort for now.”

Oliver’s mouth threatened to quirk up in a smile, which he managed to fight down. “As you can see I am fortunate enough to have this very spirited and beautiful woman agree to accompany me back to Nanda Parbat. We shall have a banquet tonight to welcome her. It is my great wish that she will take to life here and agree to be my wife.”

Felicity bristled at his words. After two days and two nights together she thought that they had an understanding. She was going to stop causing trouble (that is stop executing bad attempts to escape) and he was to dial down the startling declarations of need and marriage. Sensing her outrage, Oliver leaned in to kiss her head and whispered “We’ll talk soon Felicity. Please just go with this.”

“It’s come as quite a shock to everyone My Lord. We did not realize you had any desire to find a wife.” There was something probing and bitter about her tone. Felicity glanced at this Laurel woman and back at Oliver. Definitely an ex of some kind she thought. Laurel looked like she was desperately trying to control herself from having some sort of outburst. Meanwhile Oliver looked impatient and dismissive. 

“It’s been a hard few days for Felicity and she needs her rest. We will address everyone at the banquet.” With that he stalked off with Felicity in his arms and carried her towards the castle by passing the legions of assassins who were now all standing with their heads bowed down.

“This reminds me so much of that scene in Rebecca where Mrs Danvers brings out the entire household to meet the new awkward Mrs De Winter when she comes back to Manderley with Max for the first time.”

“What are you talking about Felicity?”

“Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. It’s an awesome book. You should read it! Actually they made a great movie of it. We should watch it one day if this joint of yours has electricity.”

“Are you implying that I’m too dumb to read the book?”

“Don’t be sensitive Oliver.”

###################

To her immense relief the place had what appeared to be fully modern facilities including electricity and plumbing. In hindsight she felt a bit silly. Of course it would have electricity and plumbing. It was a frigging Castle. Still it housed hundreds of assassins, something she thought only existed in fantasy novels so it wasn’t completely silly of her to think that maybe they fetch their waters from the springs or some other nonsense like that.

Oliver dropped her off to what he said would be her temporary quarters and left her in the company of a kindly looking old lady in her mid fifties known as Huda. Huda ran her a bath (complete with rose petals) and pointed to some clothes that had been left on her large opulent four-poster bed, complete with lacey curtains to either enhance the romantic affect or keep the mosquitoes out. She wasn’t sure.

“I bath you My Lady?” the older woman smiled at her.

“Oh no Huda, no to bathing me and no to My Lady. Please call me Felicity.”

“I cannot call you by your name My Lady. You are very important to Ra’s and have a high station. Must call by proper name.”

Felicity smiled at the older lady’s earnest protest. “How about just Miss then? I’ll have a chat to Ra’s about it. Don’t worry it’ll be fine.”

“Miss Felicity,” Huda beamed at her.

“Yes Miss Felicity I can live with,” Felicity smiled back. A few minutes later she managed to send Huda off after assuring her that she was a big girl who was perfectly capable of taking her own baths.

###################

After a good soak in the enormous claw foot tub, Felicity felt almost human again. Her hair was washed and stood in soft waves around her face instead of the dirty frizzled ponytail she had been sporting for the last few days. She slipped on the soft baby pink satin robe that had been thoughtfully placed on a rack next to the tub and examined the contents of the dressing table in her room. 

Her dressing table was loaded with every kind of powder, foundation, lipstick known to mankind, all unopened and all presumably procured for her. Felicity rummaged through all the lipsticks before settling on sweet pink colour. This was all they were going to get from her today. She needed a lipstick that was bright enough to help her face a bunch of assassins but she’d be damned if she was going to put in more effort than this.

Felicity moved towards the bed and began to put on the clothes that had been provided for her. She had assumed that because everyone had been wearing black cat suits she would also be issued with a cat suit. She was rather pleased when she saw bright pink fabric on her bed, thinking they must have given her a pink cat suit. It would be shockingly bright but it was her and it wasn’t too different to what everyone else was wearing. Oh how wrong she was. 

An outraged snort escaped her as she examined herself in the mirror. She was dressed in a pair of pink harem pants that reached her ankles and sat loosely on her midriff just below her belly button. An equally pink bustier crop top, bedazzled with crystals and jewels to draw attention to her chest, accompanied the pants. A flimsy baby pink lace bolero completed the outfit. She looked like she’d just step off the set of “I Dream of Jeannie.” 

There was a knock on her door. “Come in,” she called hoping it was Huda so she could ask for some different clothes. It was Oliver, looking like a million dollars in his cool assassin finery who proceeded to stare at her like a stunned mullet, his eyes slowly moving backwards and forwards between her midriff and her chest but never reaching her eyes.

“Oy! Eyes up here,” she grizzled at him. “What the hell do you think you’re playing at Mister? I am NOT, I am SOOOOO NOT going out to face a hall full of assassins in this garb! Was this your idea?” 

She glared at him, daggers shooting from her eyes. If looks could kill he’d be a dead man ten times over. Oliver chuckled and raised his hands in mock surrender. “I suspect this was Sara’s idea of a joke. Before she left I asked her to get some clothing in your size for you. Maybe check your wardrobe to see what else is in there.”

She marched to the nearest wardrobe and yanked the doors open. There was an assortment of clothes all hung up neatly. Her lips could not resist smiling as she spotted a standard issue cat suit amongst the clothes. She picked out a white halter neck top, glared at Oliver ordering him to turn away from her and proceeded to change. He was a surprisingly amiable fellow for someone who led a bunch of assassins. 

“I’m ready. Let’s go get this over with.”

“You’re so beautiful,” he suddenly slipped next to her, stroking her cheek and gazing at her like she was some mythical creature that had fallen from the sky. He was so intense. His intensity unsettled her and threw her off kilter. Sure she was a highly demonstrative person herself but her emotions were loud and upfront. She wasn’t used to the intense brooding and haunted gazes. They rattled her.

“We need to talk,” she sighed. “Surely you don’t intend to marry me for real? How long are you going to keep me here? What happens if I don’t want to be with you? Even if I do want to be with you, aren’t you worried that maybe it’s just Stockholm syndrome?”

He visibly flinched at the Stockholm Syndrome comment like she had slapped him and Felicity once again felt like a very mean woman. 

“Sorry that was mean. I…….I think you and I could be friends Oliver but you freak me out when you swing between ‘lets-banter-and-be-friends-Oliver’ to ‘intense-hot-assassin-OhFelicity-you-are-a-magical-unicorn-Oliver.’ I can’t deal with that right now.” 

“You think I’m hot?” He looked very pleased by this revelation. 

“Of course I think you’re hot I’m not blind. You know you’ve totally missed my point right?” she swatted him on the arm playfully.

“Tonight, after the banquet we’ll talk Felicity. We’ll talk for as long as you need to.”

“Are you implying that I talk a lot?” she grinned impishly at him, her tummy fluttering again as another smile settled on his face.

###################

Felicity munched happily on her meat and vegetables as she surveyed the banquet hall. An advantage to being here was that she might not have to cook ever again. Felicity detested cooking. Felicity had attacked cooking with the vigor in which she attacked most things in life. She had studied the basics, read all the relevant cookbooks, and watched a few respected cooking shows however she still managed to fail spectacularly every time she attempted a new recipe. At first Felicity didn’t think her cooking was all that bad. Chewy steak had not bothered her (she liked her meat to fight back a bit) until she realized that no one ever touched anything she brought to potluck parties. She beamed to herself at the thought of not having to cook or shell out for expensive take out for while.

“You’re handling this spectacularly well,” Oliver whispered into her ear. 

“Oh once I accept things not very much phases me,” she replied. “Got to put my game face on and not have a melt down in front of a bunch of lethal assassins.” 

“Felicity you have my promise that nothing, no one will hurt you here. I will stake my life on it,” he looked at her earnestly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Her tummy gave another little pirouette. She put her fork down and cupped his cheeks with both her hands. “Will you stop stressing about me. I promise you I am absolutely fine. I trust that you’ll keep me safe. You need to work out what it is you want from me but you need to stop worrying about me or your decision to bring me back here will take years off your life!” 

Without thinking she leaned in and gently nudged her nose against his. Their gazes locked and for a brief few seconds it felt like time stood still. Felicity could feel her heart thumping and suddenly she had trouble breathing. She wasn’t sure how she did it but somehow she managed to break their gaze and pull herself away to commence patting him awkwardly on the arm. She may or may not have accidentally felt up his biceps. Damn. So much for handling things like a boss. 

Two tables down to their left she caught Sara grinning at her and giving her a thumbs up. There was something so comforting about the gesture. A woman who could probably snap her neck with one hand was playfully teasing her about a boy. A boy who just happened to be the Demon’s head. Felicity giggled in spite of herself and flashed the other girl an embarrassed smile. Nyssa, who was sitting next to Sara looked unimpressed and frankly bored until Sara elbowed her and whispered something into her ear, coaxing a rare smile from her.

Laurel, or Mrs Danvers as Felicity had secretly named her in her head had approached their table. She pointedly ignored Felicity and was trying to engage Oliver in some sort of conversation, politely nagging him about something or other. Felicity stifled a yawn and checked out the assassins on her right side. 

It was then that she spotted him. He was about a zillion feet tall, and decked out in the standard issue style assassin garb. However his garb was grey instead of the generic black everyone else wore. Perhaps he was a higher-ranking assassin. Like a general of some sort. He would have a really huggable Teddy Bear look about him if it weren’t for the whole assassin thing. Due to his sheer size he didn’t look as nimble as Sara or Nyssa but Felicity suspected he could just pick you up with his pinky and crush your bones. He was observing their table, studying herself and Oliver. He’d probably witnessed the sporadic Eskimo kiss she planted on Oliver. Felicity detected a hint of judgment on his face. He caught Felicity’s eye and gave her a polite nod. The General definitely thought she was a complication. This was going to be interesting. 

###################

“Your General doesn’t approve of this,” Felicity declared as she plopped herself down on the bed, someone having already thoughtfully tied back the lacy curtains for her (she assumed it was Huda).

“My General?”

“Yes, giant fellow sitting by himself on my right in the grey. Gave us a lot of disapproving looks. I don’t think they were all for me.”

“Yup that’s John. Sounds like him too. He’s my right hand man. He’s saved my life twice before. One of the few people I can really trust.”

“Well he doesn’t approve of whatever it is you’re doing with me. What are you going to do with me Oliver? Why am I here?” she sighed.

An uncomfortable silence descended over them as they both contemplated the reality of what they were, of what the nature of their relationship was. Beneath the light hearted banter and the “moments” they had with each other, there was still the troublesome reality that she was his captive. It didn’t matter what they could be in the future, this fact was always going to haunt them.

“I…………I would like to say I made a mistake making you board that plane and maybe in some ways I did but I……I just don’t regret it Felicity. These last few days with you, I’ve been so happy, happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life. I know what I did was selfish but for a long time my life has been so dark. I saw a ray of sunshine and I wanted it for myself.” Part of her wanted to protest, to tell him to stop making fanciful declarations but the sincerity and intensity in his eyes stopped her. 

“I know I may have ruined our beginning Felicity, but if you give me a chance, if you just take a little look into my world and maybe see if there are any parts of me you can love, I think we could rise above our unfortunate start.” He stood there, this devastatingly hot man who looked like a Greek God, making heart eyes at her. Felicity did the only thing she felt she could do. She pulled him over for a cuddle, wrapping her arms around him.

“How about we just learn to be friends first? Baby steps? You might want to learn a few things about me before you commit to your declarations of love. Maybe the unicorn you thought you found is only a pony after all! We also have to solve the problem of my dad who is due to see me in about 10 days and will most likely not accept any excuses.”

“Are you always this practical?” He lamented, snuggling further into her arms.

“Most of the time. Are you always such a dreamer? You didn’t get to become Ra’s Al Ghul by being the man you are with me. 

“You make me dream Felicity. When I’m around you I dream of happiness and good things.”

“Aww shucks.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity gets her bearings within the League

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!!!!
> 
> I caught the dreaded lurgy and have been out of it for most of the week. I have read and re read this chapter several times but as I am a one woman shop and my brain is cotton wool this week I apologise in advance for any errors!
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you're enjoying the story!

“You need to see him. You need to introduce me him,” Felicity stated, prodding Oliver’s arm playfully as he laid on the large velvet couch in her quarters. To keep any rumors and prying eyes at bay, and also because it lessened his anxiety about her safety, he had taken to entering her room every night to sleep and then not leaving until mid morning. No one suspected anything because it was assumed that Ra’s was spending lust fueled nights with his consort. 

The truth was somewhere in between. There was plenty of lust but only on his part it seemed. Felicity was steadily driving him crazy, romping around her vast quarters in barely there panties and camisoles with straps that kept falling off her shoulders. He had briefly wondered whether it was part of her plan to punish him for bringing her here, to slowly drive him to the brink of insanity but after a few nights it had become painfully clear that she was blissfully oblivious to the effect she was having on him. After their talk she had somehow locked on steadfastly to the notion that they were going to try and be friends. She told him about her childhood adventures, squeezed his hand understandingly when he couldn’t yet talk about his childhood and showered him with all the affection she had to offer.

He knew he should be happy and he was happy. Happier than he had ever been in his life. However he craved and wanted more from her. He wanted more than her platonic friendship and love. He wanted to know that he was never going to lose her that he was always going to bask in her sunshine and light. He kept these thoughts and impulses to himself, knowing that despite her acceptance of him she was still extremely skittish and wary of his declarations of love. 

It was ironic really. His entire youth with Laurel she had expected and demanded he make promises he neither wanted to make nor was prepared to keep. He had carefully worded every conversation with Laurel to avoid promising forever. When he ascended to Ra’s Al Ghul he had gone to great pains to shut down the notion of marriage. Now with a certain blue eyed, rosy-cheeked conversational blonde, he had to constantly fight the urge to beg her to be his wife for fear of scaring her away. 

“Oliver, it’s past 10 am. Don’t you have assassins to lead and a difficult conversation to have with Mr Diggle?” She had resorted to shaking him, however due to their vast size difference, shaking him meant her pushing her body against his and tugging at his shoulders. It had not occurred to her that by doing this, he could feel her breasts brushing against his shirtless back, through her flimsy yellow lace camisole.

“Felicity, please stop doing that,” he demanded through gritted teeth. Right away he regretted his tone as her forehead crinkled in confusion and a look of hurt fluttered across her face. She looked young and vulnerable and he cursed himself for snapping at her.

“Felicity,” he stood up and closed his eyes to avoid the mortification that he felt at having to have this conversation at all. He was in his thirties for goodness sakes. 

“Felicity you know how I feel about you, even if you don’t want to hear it. So when you interact with me in certain ways, in causes certain reactions within me.” She crinkled her nose and shot him a look like she thought he was crazy.

“Phy-si-cal re-act-ions,” he enunciated the words and looked at her pointedly.

“Oh……..oooh……oooooooh……..oh I am so sorry Oliver! I give you wood,” she declared, beaming as if a divine revelation had just struck her. “I didn’t realize I was giving you wood. I haven’t really seen any bulges in you pants.” He could not help but raise an eyebrow at her. 

“I’m not going to even bother explaining that,” she was trying her best to look dignified, her cheeks flushing a delightful shade of crimson. “Is the wood a problem? Is it my clothes? Sarah is taking me down to the village today to call dad so I will try to find some T Shirts.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, “Is it morning wood or every-time-you-are-around-me wood?”

“Felicity can we stop discussing wood?” Oliver couldn’t help laughing at her concerned expression.

“You know in college I date this slightly strange guy called Cooper for two weeks, dad HATED the sound of him. Anyway when I told him I didn’t think we were suited for each other he accused me of being a flirt.” She looked worried for a second, “You don’t think I am flirting with you do you? It was my idea to be friends first so I’d feel terrible if you were thinking I’m a tease on purpose. Its just……….you look so lost sometimes, like you’re on an island of your own and I just want to hug you and make it all better. I…………I can stop if it bothers you.”

“Felicity promise me you’ll never stop. Promise me that no matter what you’ll always hug me and make it better?” His face was barely an inch from hers as she nodded, gazing up at him, her lips parted, moist and pink, begging to be kissed. He wondered what she would taste like, whether those lips would be as soft as they looked. What delightful noises would she make if he were to just lean forward a little more and press his lips onto hers. It took every ounce of his being to stop himself from kissing her senseless there and then. However he was a glutton for punishment and could not will himself to break away from their gaze. 

It was Felicity who took a step back, a bubbly smile once again appearing on her face. “Looks like today is the day for awkward conversations. Mine with my dad and yours with Mr Diggle.”

“You have got to stop calling him that,” he chastised her playfully. He secretly could not wait to set her on John, just for the sheer fun of watching the other man’s reaction. 

“But it’s SUCH a cool surname!”

“Are you going to be ok going to town with Sara to contact your dad? I don’t see why you can’t just do it here instead of in the middle of the nearest town. Maybe I should come with you.” He could feel the anxiety creeping upon him. The thought of her not being within reach, miles away from him.

“You have to tackle Mr Diggle remember? I need the town to make it look like I’ve taken a sabbatical to do charity work. Won’t have the right backdrop here in your lair now will it? I’ll need to hack the signals too so he thinks I really am in rural India. I may be one of the best hackers in the world but dad is right up there and I’m not sure I can fool him.” She bit her lip, a worried expression crossing her face.

“I really don’t like the idea of you being so far away from me.”

“I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself. Besides Sara is totally badass.” She gave a little content sigh. “I really like Sara. She’s so funny and nice. Not that bland nice but wicked nice, slightly dark. Just enough spice! Doesn’t hurt that she’s mega hot too. She’s like my perfect fantasy of a woman. You know what! She reminds me of a female version of you!!!!! You two should totally have gotten together! Imagine what a kick ass couple you would be! And I mean that literally too.” She clapped her hands and squealed at this revelation. 

Oliver did not know what came over him but her delight at the thought of him and Sara together irked him immensely. He found himself irrationally angry that she could happily pair him off with another woman. 

“What makes you think we haven’t been together in the past?” he snapped. “Sara, Laurel and I had a very complicated youth. Maybe one day I’ll tell you about it.” As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them. He was a cad. Felicity was being typical Felicity and he had tried to fling it back in her face to hurt her because of his own insecurities. His gaze flickered over her face to see how much damage he had done. 

She merely rolled her eyes at him, “Oooh was it a love triangle? Ha! I knew it! I knew Laurel was an ex!!!!! Sara I couldn’t pick up because you two look like you’re in a good place. Two sisters! What were you thinking! That was some poor decision making!” 

His emotions were awry. This woman was going to be the death of him. He had been so painfully contrite about the thought of hurting her a minute ago, yet seeing her completely unaffected by the bomb he had just dropped felt like another blow to his chest. 

################

“So, you’ve finally made it out of your honeymoon suite to see me,” John remarked coolly as he entered the room. Oliver signaled for the two guards to leave.

“It’s not what you think John.” 

“What were you thinking bringing that girl back here? Clearly you weren’t thinking Oliver,” John did not bother mincing his words or conveying how he felt about the situation. “We both know what your history with some of the women in the League is like and you’ve gotten away with all sorts of crap in the past but now you drag this girl back to be your consort? How old is she? 19? 20?” 

“We’re assassins Oliver, we’ve done some bad sh#t but capturing a kid from suburbia because you decided you want her as your play thing is not on,” he continued before Oliver could get a word in edgewise.

“She’s 23, she just looks young,” Oliver protested defensively, wincing as he realized how lame those words sounded to even his ears. “It’s not like that John. We haven’t…she and I………..we’re just………….she’s agreed to be friends and see where it takes us. 

“What the hell Oliver! Why did you do it? Why didn’t you let her go?”

“She saw our faces and Nyssa was going to kick up a stink if I let her go.”

“Don’t give me that bullsh$t Oliver. You know full well Nyssa’s bark is worse than her bite and Sara was more than willing to let her go. Had you actually acted like a sane man and let her go, Sara would have eventually smoothed it over with Nyssa. But no, you went and developed a fascination with this girl and convinced yourself this was the only way.” John was evidently furious at his decision. “Have you thought about her? About the kind of danger you’ve put her in? Girl looks like she’s one of those wide eyed angels that fell from the sky and you bring her here to the League of Assassins.”

“Tinker Bell,” Oliver murmured to himself softy.

“What?” John snapped. He was disappointed. Oliver had grown up since his ascent to Ra’s Al Ghul. He had battled the darkness within him, and steadfastly steered the League in a more humane direction. Then in one false swoop, the ordeal with this girl happens. 

“I can protect her. We can protect her John,” Oliver sounded hopeful.

“We?” John shot his friend a stern look.

“Look I know how you feel about this but I don’t regret it. There was just something about her in those brief minutes that I saw her. She made me smile. This is not an attempt to garner pity John but you know what my life has been like. I’ve never had anything good for myself. When I saw her it was like I could see what true happiness was like. And I wanted it for myself. She makes me happy John. And I think she feels something for me. She’s not sure what it is yet herself but there is something there.” Oliver’s eyes lit up as he talked about Felicity. The fool was definitely in love.

“That is a lot of responsibility and hope to place on another person Oliver. You’ve built her up into this paragon of goodness and virtue. Chances are she’s only human. You need to come to turns with that before this ends badly.” John’s tone softened. Part of him was thrilled to see his friend so happy. The other side of him, the wiser part who had lived longer, who had loved and lost, who realized that sometimes love was not enough was fearful of what would happen to Oliver if this all came crashing down one day. 

“You’ll understand when you meet her John,” Oliver sighed happily. 

“Girl jumped out of the plane to get away from you. I think I like her already.” 

################

“You’re back,” he ran and pulled her into a hug, ignoring the smirk from Sara and raised eyebrow from John.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I promised I’d be back,” she replied quietly, her cheeks flushing pink as she glanced at Sara and John.

“Introduce me to Mr Diggle,” she whispered, nudging his chest with her forehead. Oliver cleared his throat, poised to begin introductions when Felicity decided to take matters into her own hand. She wriggled out of his hold and bounded towards John Diggle, all 5 foot 5 inches of her brimming with nervous energy.

“Mr Diggle! My name is Felicity! Deeeelighted to meet you Sir! I assure you that my intentions towards Oliver are pure,” she flashed him a winning smile and offered her tiny little hand. 

John Diggle sized her up with a shrewd look on his face. On face value and based on her demeanor that statement could have easily been construed as nothing but a bit of frivolity, however he suspected that this girl had already taken his measure. He took her hand and was reciprocated with a firm handshake.

“Please call me John. Oliver is our Leader, we trust his judgment.” He was about to say something else when a flustered looking Laurel entered the room.

Oliver groaned inwardly. She was the last person he wanted to see right now. It was uncanny how she always managed to inject herself at the most inconvenient moments.

“Oliver, we need you down in the hub. Our attempts to extract information have not been successful. If you’re done dealing with your personal business we need you.” She cast Felicity a withering glance as she spat out the words “personal business,” her face puckering like she had just chewed on something bitter. 

“It was lovely to meet you John. I assure you I’ll keep out of trouble,” Felicity smiled a warm smile at the giant man before her. Oliver could see a faint spark of amusement briefly cross John’s face as he smiled cordially back at her.

“I’m going to head back to my chambers while you all discuss your assassin business which I’m sure you don’t want me to hear. You know where to find me if you need my particular set of skills.” Felicity brushed her hand across Oliver’s cheek and blithely exited the room. 

“I say we hand Felicity the laptop and let her solve our problems for us,” Sara looked towards the door where Felicity had breezed out moments ago.

“Don’t be stupid Sara, what would Oliver’s new mistress know about getting information off a bullet ridden laptop?” Laurel snapped impatiently.

“We confiscated a tablet from her the night we took her captive. We have had every technician in this place try to hack into the damn thing and no one has even managed to log in. We’ve run multiple searches on her and all we can find are innocuous profiles that don’t give us any useful information on her. She hacked wifi signals down at the village this morning to make her dad believe that she’s in India. If we want that information I say we give her that laptop and ask her for her help.”

“She’s not part of the League,” Laurel objected, clearly irritated that her sister seemed hell bent on bringing Felicity in on League business.

“We are primarily assassins, trained to fight. All of our so-called technicians are essentially fighters. We could do with an actual expert to help us out.” Sara walked towards Oliver and nudged him gently. “Besides if she’s really your consort then she is privy to any information you want to share with her.”

Oliver hesitated. He knew what Sara was saying made sense. From his conversations with Felicity he gleaned that she was somewhat an IT specialist who used her skills to embark on small-scale social crusades against those she deemed corrupt. Her goals were not that dissimilar to his League however she used law enforcement and the press in her attempts to achieve justice. He did not dare to let his mind venture to what her thoughts were in regards to the League’s practices and methods. He, all of them, had done a lot of things under the old regime. They had been taught particular skills, instilled with a particular mindset since they were children and he dreaded the day when Felicity would realize what he had been and the things he had done.

“Ollie, if it’s meant to be she’ll understand where you’re coming from, where we came from,” Sara said softly, using the childhood named she had not used for many years. “You brought her back here because you wanted her to be your light. You took a gamble with that first step and now you need to let her in.”

################

“What are you wearing?” Oliver spluttered as Felicity emerged from her bathroom, excited for a tour of the hub and excited to “use my brains before they overheat and vaporize”. He gone to her chambers and explained briefly that they needed some information off a damaged laptop and were wondering if she could help them. He felt he should have explained more but she didn’t press the matter and cheerfully told him to give her a few minutes to get ready. Apparently getting ready meant pouring herself into skin tight cat suit that for some reason had a distracting line of diamantes sewn all around her cleavage area. He didn’t know where to look and found his eyes straying fervently between her tight, toned perky ass and her soft creamy breasts. He clenched his fists at the thought of anyone else seeing her like this.

“These are the standard issue female assassin clothes Oliver. You know, the ones that Laurel, Sara, Nyssa and all your other female assassins wear,” she explained calmly. “Ok so maybe I bedazzled mine a bit. But I was really bored over the last few days when you had your assassin business. You didn’t even give me access to wifi! Or a book! So I just sat in my room while you were gone and sew beads and diamantes all over my collection of cat suits.” 

Her voice remained pleasant, as she explained all this to him, however he had the sense to detect a tart edge to it. A slight warning that she was doing her best to cope under the new set of circumstances and that she was not going to put up with any macho crap from him.

“You………you look amazing,” he finally spoke, glancing appreciatively at her ass one last time before focusing on her face.

“I know the feminist in me should be outraged that you’re primarily admiring me for my looks but the nerd in me is secretly a bit thrilled. No one has ever wanted me for my body before,” she grinned, grabbing his arm to leave the room. 

“Soooo the hub huh! I’m so excited! This is like a first date! You do realize this is more important than a first date right? You and I may not be able to progress any further if I don’t like your set up or if I find you have dodgy systems,” she was practically bouncing along the corridors as they made their way down to the hub. 

################

After two hours, a lot of horrified clucking and some inaudible cursing Felicity handed over a thumb drive to the line of idle assassins standing in front of her. They had insisted on watching her work, under the misguided impression that their presence would prevent her from conducting any nefarious activities in cyberspace. Oh how wrong they were. Still she had given Oliver her word that she would not leave him and had devoted a lot of effort to keeping her father at bay. She did not bother to tell them that had she wished, the FBI, CIA and every other intelligence agency would have swooped down on their castle by now. That is what you get when you capture random computer geeks and bring them home with you.

“This is everything I’ve been able to pull off the laptop. I suspect you are mainly after the plans to Samuel Rosenberg’s house. If you are planning any secret assassin type business in his home I suggest you hack into his security systems so you know what you’re in for. CIA records indicate that Mr Rosenberg is not someone you want to take lightly,” she motioned her hand to wave them off, as if to tell them to run along with the thumb drive and leave her alone. 

“Are you finished then?” Oliver asked uncertainly when she made no move to leave the machines. 

“With your business I am. I’m attending to my own private matters now. I have apps for sale on the Apple store that need updating. And since I’ve been on lockdown for a good week I really need to get back into it and see that my money makers are running smoothly.” 

Seeing the confused faces before her Felicity sighed and explained further. “Before I joined you guys in your secret lair I had a life of my own. I funded this life, paid my mortgage by consulting and selling apps on the Apple store.” Seeing no recognition on their faces, she briefly wondered if assassins had smart phones.

“I make games for smart phones and sell them. You know games like Cursed Cupcakes and Kamikaze Kangaroo.”

“YOU, Felicity Smoak, are the creator of Kamikaze Kangaroo? You are not just very pretty and very pink?” Nyssa approached her with what was unmistakably a beaming smile on her face.

“Yeeeeeess I created and own Kamikaze Kangaroo,” Felicity responded, not sure what to make of this exchange, the other woman’s sudden enthusiasm catching her off guard. Nyssa did not smile. She glowered and glared but she did not smile, at least not at Felicity. This was extremely unnerving.

“You mean to tell me you are the brilliant mind behind the game where that poor baby Koala Lou must set off into the bush and outrun these evil Kangaroos who blow up at random intervals?”

“Yes I made the game. I wouldn’t call it brilliant but hey the public wants what it wants,” Felicity shrugs, turning her attention back to her computer.

“It is absolutely BRILLIANT,” Nyssa gushed, causing her to jump in alarm. “I am up to level 48. Although I must say your in app purchases are priced exorbitantly. $10 for 12 shrinking gum nuts.”

“That’s how I make most of my money,” Felicity giggled at the semi indignant, semi admiring Nyssa. “Tell you what Nyssa, let me finish my latest update and I’ll hook you up with a code for a few freebies. You’ll need them for the higher levels.”

“Oliver! You cannot let her run riot in the hub. She’s an outsider. What is she going to do now, run a business from inside the League?” Laurel’s quarrelsome tone was unmistakable.

“Actually if I can just have my tablet back I have ways in which I can just run my business off my own system. You wouldn’t ever know that I was here.” Seeing the obvious look of admiration on Nyssa’s face, Felicity could not help adding “Otherwise I’d have to say goodbye to my brainchild Kamikaze Kangaroo forever. No more updates, no more new levels.”

“Felicity I’m really sorry about your tablet. Of course you can have it back. Here it is,” Oliver handed her back her pink tablet, looking unscathed from its adventures. 

“Thank you for all your help today. I……….I trust you, you know that right?” The intensity was back in his eyes again as he gazed at her. She could feel the heat radiating from him, as if he were going to combust with some kind of crazy burn if he kept standing there and staring at her. It rattled her less now. Oliver was insecure about the circumstance of their friendship and although she agreed to stay here with him, a part of him loathed himself for bringing her here, which triggered a host of insecurities that seemed to crop up whenever she brought up her old life. She had come to realize that for some reason she provoked a kind of fervor within him but that she could also put out the fire. She slowly placed the tablet on the table and reached up for his shoulders, gently stroking his arms.

“I know……..I know. Thank you for trusting me. I’ll just finish up on these computers and then I can use my tablet in my room. Why don’t you sit with me for a bit? I won’t be long.”

At once she could see a sense of calm return to him. He smiled at her and shook his head. 

“No…….no you do what you need to do. I’ll see you tonight.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before barking a firm command to the room. “Out everyone. Give Felicity her space.”

One by one they filed out of the hub, Laurel seething, Sara looking secretly pleased about something and John rolling his eyes like he was above all this nonsense. Only Nyssa remained, pacing up and down slightly.

“About those free gum nuts you promised,” she asked, looking perfectly dignified as if she were asking for an antidote to save Sara rather than a code for free shrinking gum nuts.

“Give me thirty minutes Nyssa and I will give them to you. I just need to work it into the code as I am creating it especially for you.”

“You are an admirable woman Felicity Smoak. I can see now why you appeal to My Love and Oliver.” With that Nyssa swept out of the room, leaving Felicity shaking her head. Who knew that a few crazy exploding kangaroos and a baby koala was the way to Nyssa’s good graces?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity gets some training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo Lovely People!
> 
> Here is your weekly update!
> 
> See you next week!

“Felicity there is a laser maze. Can you disable it?” Oliver asked. It had taken her a while to get used to how business like he was on these missions. 

“No Felicity, you’re over protective Felicity, we’re badass assassins Felicity, we don’t need comms Felicity. Now you want me to disable this maze for you,” Felicity muttered, typing away furiously.

“Fe-li-ci-ty,” Oliver chastised impatiently upon hearing her impromptu lecture.

“Working on it Arrow! Give me another 30 seconds.”

“Arrow? I thought you were giving up on that,” she could hear the annoyance in his voice. She had taken to giving them all nicknames whilst they were on comms. Sara, John and the others had taken to theirs like ducks to water. Oliver and Nyssa were still resisting and took to grumbling and grousing when it suited them.

“Done!” Felicity declared triumphantly. “Must say I am disappointed though, I was looking forward to seeing Sara go all Catherine Zeta Jones through the lasers. I even hacked into the security cameras so I could watch the show.”

“I’ll give you a private show when I get back babe,” Sara’s unmistakably cheeky voice retorted.

“I’ll hold you to that!” Felicity chirped back. She had fallen into an easy friendship with Sara. She loved Sara’s easygoing humor and wit. Sara took great delight in scandalizing and shocking Felicity and loosened up the control freak in her. Felicity always felt braver, freer and a bit more naughty when Sara was around. However underneath Sara’s devil may care demeanor was a damaged soul that Felicity yearned to coddle and sooth. They were an odd couple but they brought out the best in each other. 

“Felicity some help with this electronic lock please?” Oliver’s impatient voice roused her from her thoughts.

“Whoops sorry, give me ten seconds………DONE.”

“Package is secure, exiting facility now,” Oliver confirmed. She watched as they made their way undetected out of the facility. Felicity gave a sigh of relief, scrubbed the camera footage, replaced it with a false loop she had made earlier and shut down her systems. She took off her glasses and rubbed her temples, debating whether to have another cup of coffee or just go back to her quarters and crawl into bed. It had been three months and she had assisted them on numerous missions but her anxiety didn’t seem to be easing. If anything it grew day by day. The deeper her friendships grew, the more stress she felt when she fare welled them on these missions. She knew she wasn’t being rational. They were trained assassins; they had survived and thrived for years on missions, without her help and without comms. If anything they should all be safer now with additional Intel she provided and her state of the art new system.

***

“You look like you need this,” John placed a mug of what looked to be hot chocolate next to her.

“Aww you made me a hot choc,” Felicity smiled at the calming presence before her. 

“Actually Huda made it. But I came to deliver it and walk you back to your room.”

“You don’t need to babysit me John. I know the layout of the land now. I can get back to my room by myself. Besides it always makes me feel weird that Oliver’s second in command has to babysit me 24/7 when Sara and Oliver are off site,” she took a sip of her hot chocolate and wrinkled her nose in distaste at the notion of being guarded constantly. It was a sore point between herself and Oliver. She thought it was ridiculous that either one of Maseo or John had to constantly follow her around when Oliver was away. She had argued that it made her feel silly and useless. Oliver had countered that it was for his own peace of mind rather than her safety.

“Just want to make sure you go back and sleep at a decent hour tonight. You know what day it is tomorrow. And this time I’m not taking lack of sleep as an excuse,” John looked stern but there was a little twinkle in his eye.

Felicity’s eyes widened in horror when she realized what he was talking about. “Noooooooo!!!! Nooooooooo are you on duty this month? Nooooooo but Sara is back tomorrow.”

“Alternate months kiddo! It’s my turn this month.”

“Noooo John!!! Pleeeeeeease can you go easy on me? I’ve had a hard time adjusting to my surroundings. I’ve been terribly homesick,” Felicity tried her best to look as woeful as possibly, gazing up at him beseechingly with her big blue eyes.

“That story might work on me if I didn’t catch you singing show tunes while you’re tinkering with your state of the art electronics,” John shook his head at her disapprovingly. “Finish up the hot chocolate and off to bed you go. I will expect nothing less than one hundred percent focus tomorrow.”

Felicity scowled at him darkly as she sipped the last of her hot chocolate, her mind working furiously for a way to get out of tomorrow’s conundrum. 

#############

“Speed up Felicity! MOVE IT!!! Go go go,” John barked at her from the ground as she struggled to hold onto the monkey bar. She was drenched in sweat and everything ached. Muscles she did not know existed were hurting. Focusing on her breathing she grappled for the next bar and hauled herself across until she finally reached the end of the sixteen-foot course. She collapsed onto the dirt and closed her eyes defiantly. She knew what was coming next but she refused to acknowledge him hoping that if she ignored John long enough he’d give up and go away. 

No such luck. The shrill sound of a whistle blowing greeted her as she opened her eyes wearily. She briefly wondered what it was about training that turned the calm, observant, peaceful John into a…well for lack of a better word, a very mean banshee! The moment he took over training he ceased to be the kind brotherly figure that looked out for her. He barked, he yelled, he berated her as he made her run, do sit ups and climb laps over the monkey bar. She wondered if it had something to do with his previous life in the army. 

“Get up Felicity! That was slow! How are you going to climb anywhere during an escape if you can’t scale your way across a children’s training set of monkey bars?” he barked at her.

“You have kids here?” Felicity looked around horrified. She had never seen a child on the premises and had been under the impression that anyone who joined the league was a disillusioned adult, in search of something different to escape their former lives. 

“The old Ra’s had an army of children that he trained to become killers. This was a training facility for the 7 to 10 year olds. When Oliver ascended to Ra’s he gave the kids a choice. Those who wanted to go back to their families could go home. Those that were orphaned had a choice to go to boarding school and continue to get an education so they could hope to begin leading semi normal lives. The older ones who wanted to stay on with the league were allowed to stay on.” 

“Those poor children,” Felicity murmured, blinking back tears. Despite their growing friendship, Oliver had never talked about his past with her. She shivered suddenly; deep down she knew he had been one of those poor young souls, trained by Ra’s to become a killing machine. It was a miracle how much capacity he had for love, despite all the horrors he must have endured. 

“He survived the past Felicity. You’re his future now,” John gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder. “That is why you need to work harder so you can stay safe and protect yourself. If not for your sake then for his sake.” 

Reluctantly she hauled herself off the ground and turned to face John determinedly. “What’s next boss?” she attempted a bright smile in an endeavor to lighten the mood.

“You were slow on those monkey bars Felicity. You’re just not giving it your all. So we are going to motivate you to move a bit faster. I want you to do eight laps in what we call the War Zone.” An evil glint flickered across his face. The man was diabolical when it came to training. Felicity almost wept as she briefly recalled the days where Sara would get her to do yoga, some forward rolls and lots of sit ups. 

“The War Zone? Is this a joke? Are you trying to give me a good scare John?” 

“I never joke when I am training recruits,” John replied sternly. “You will follow me into the War Zone and you will do eight laps. I will time you. If you do not perform according to my standards you will come back to the track and jog for another three laps.”

Felicity shot him a fierce glare and briefly wondered what the consequences would be if she stomped on his foot and made a mad dash back to her quarters. She could always cry foul to Oliver and demand that mean old John never train her again. She could but she also knew that she wouldn’t. These were merely vicious daydreams she enjoyed whilst training. She respected John too much and was proud of the equal respect he bestowed on her. She knew that despite her constant whining at him during training there was no way she would do anything that would cause her to lose John Diggle’s respect. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and followed him sullenly into the War Zone. 

***

“Is this a ffing joke!!!!! OMG you people are crazy!!!!!!! John I swear to God if you made this up just to torment me I will hack into ALL your secret identities and make your life a living hell,” Felicity screeched as water grenades pelted at her while she ran, no scurried for dear life. The War Zone indeed lived up to its name. It was a four hundred foot long pit of sand, scattered loosely with random objects. On both ends of the pit were water grenade launchers, trained to detect motion that launch water grenades filled with blue paint at the moving target. It was like something out of a cheesy Japanese game show and Felicity could have appreciated the humor, had she not been the target.

“Quit your ranting and move faster,” John yelled back, blowing that dastardly whistle at her. “What is wrong with you girl! DUCK!!!!! Use your surroundings and DUCK!!! Why are you standing around like a clear target? MOVE!!!!!!! If these were real bullets you’d be dead 100 times over.”

Letting out a frustrated shriek, Felicity ran for dear life, ducking, dodging and weaving between poles and rocks as the water grenade assault continued around her.

***

Every bone in her body ached as she laid in a heap on the training mats. Felicity had no idea how she had made it out of the War Zone or how she had hauled herself back to the gym but here she was, on the gym mats, too sore and lethargic to move. Despite her bruises and aches Felicity was pleased. John had not made her run any extra laps on the track, an indication that she had not performed too badly in the War Zone. Only fifteen more training sessions to go before she was back with Sara in charge Felicity thought. If she could survive this month, she could survive anything. She might even come out of this with mad ninja skills.

The door burst open and John marched in carrying a tray with what she assumed was her lunch. Goodie she thought, she was starving after all that strenuous physical exercise.

“Met Huda on the way here and grabbed your lunch for you. Thought it would be a good time to check your diet.” John placed the lunch tray on the floor next to her and began to examine the contents.

“Lets see what do we have here. Chicken salad sandwich, good but should get rid of the white bread for multigrain, fruit – fine, boiled egg – good protein, salad – greens not a problem, juice – you don’t need the extra sugar, just eat fruit instead and drink water or have milk for extra protein and calcium.” He removed the juice before she had a chance to protest.

“Two cupcakes??? What do you need cupcakes for in the middle of the day?” Without any further warning he snatched the two pink frosted vanilla cupcakes from the tray causing Felicity to yelp indignantly. 

“Jooooohhhnnnn,” she whined, her outrage at losing her cupcakes giving her the strength to sit up quickly. “You are almost literally taking cupcakes from a baby! That is wrong on so many levels! I have done laps on the monkey bars like you asked, I have busted my butt in the War Zone, I have done all the sit ups you’ve demanded, and now you are stealing cupcakes from me? Tell me what did I do to deserve this John?”

“You think I don’t know that you and Oliver eat dessert every night in your room when he’s not in the field? That’s more refined sugar that you’ll ever need so why do you need two cupcakes at lunch?”

“Because cupcakes make me happy,” she whined. “I can put up with your regime if I know there’s a treat at the end of it.”

He frowned at her sternly for a few seconds before reluctantly placing one cupcake back on the tray. “One cupcake,” he stated with an air of a man making a great concession. “One cupcake and if I hear any more whining about this you’ll be eating kale and grilled chicken for the next month under my watch.”

###########

Felicity took a big bite of cake, savouring the creamy sweetness as she typed away frantically on her laptop. The latest update of Kamikaze Kangaroo had resulted in a few glitches, which had caused the masses to come out with their pitchforks, raging about the game. Felicity knew that if she did not get his fixed soon her yearlong-held five star rating would plummet. More terrifying than that she expected a knock on her door and a visit from Nyssa imminently if these bugs were not ironed out. 

Footsteps echoed down the hall outside her room. They were still a little way off but she knew it had to be Oliver. Or rather she hoped it would be Oliver. He was due to arrive today and she had not seen him for five whole days. She missed their sleepovers and late night snacks. Her stomach gave a little flutter as she scrambled out of bed and checked her appearance briefly. She was wearing a white sundress printed with small pink daisies; her hair was braided in two pigtails. She probably looked a little young but perfectly presentable she decided. 

She gently pushed open her door and peeked down the hall. Oliver’s unmistakable figure was heading down the hall towards her quarters. She noted that he was in his league robes and for a brief moment she was distracted by how well they sat on his broad shouldered frame. He must be without a doubt the most handsome Demon’s Head the league has ever had. Her heart rate increased rapidly and in an impulsive move she barreled towards him and threw her arms around his neck. Thrilled by her exuberant greeting he laughed and picked her up, swinging her in the air a few times before setting her down. Felicity gripped his waist and snuggled into his chest, inhaling his grassy scent.

“Well that was quite a welcome,” he whispered before lowering his head toward her, his hand softly tilting her chin up. Felicity found herself lost in his deep blue eyes and for a moment her pact to be his friend seemed like a distant memory. She had told herself a million times she needed to take this slow, that she needed to be the one with her wits about her, for both their sakes. But in that moment it didn’t matter anymore, all that mattered was that he was going to kiss her.

As his lips captured hers, her surroundings began to spin. It was a gentle, yet persuasive kiss, beckoning her to let him in. She felt so light headed that unbeknownst to her she had reached up and cupped his face with her hands, returning his kiss with a frantic hunger she did not know existed within her. She let out a tiny moan, his hands tightened around her waist, his mouth crushing against hers with an almost ruthless intensity. Desire flooded through every fibre of her being and it took every ounce of her will power to pull away from the kiss, her small frame shaking ever so slightly as she hid her face in his chest once again.

“That was some kiss,” he murmured.

“I don’t think I can move,” she sighed breathily, leaning on him as her legs threatened to give way. Without warning he scooped her up and carried her to her chambers.

***

“Sooo that happened,” he mused, pulling her close to him. It had taken them a good ten minutes to recover from that kiss. She was now perched on his lap on one of the velvet sofas in her room, his arms enclosing her in a warm cozy hug.

“Yup,” she nodded. She could feel her cheeks burning again and was acutely conscious that she must have resembled a bright red tomato.

“Felicity….I…….I wanted to ask you…………Will you go on a date with me?” he stammered, blushing a little as a boyish grin appeared on his face.

“You mean like a DATE date? This is the League of Assassins where would we even go?” she blurted out, mentally willing her nerves to keep at bay.

“Well I thought I could show you my room?” he responded looking a little sheepish.

“Your room? That sounds awfully like a proposition! What kind of girl do you take me for?” she let out a little giggled, relief washing over her as the atmosphere between them became less charged and things felt somewhat normal again.

“Well I would ask you to marry me but you’d frown on that so I thought I’d start with a date first,” he countered, finally looking at ease. “I’ve never shown you my room before. I thought we could have dinner there and talk, hang out. Do whatever you want to do.”

He looked so earnest and sweet that her heart hurt a little as she watched his eyes light up at the thought of going on a date with her. She wiggled closer and snuggled into his arms. 

“I would love to go on a date with you Oliver. I’d go on a date anywhere with you.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity goes on a date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo Lovely People!
> 
> I beat my deadline this week! I will be on holidays so no updates until end of October as I won't have a computer with me and I think typing on my phone would result in too many errors.

“I have a present for you,” Sara announced as she smooth out the last few strands of blonde hair and pinned a stray lock down with a bobby pin. She did a quick once over to admire the sleek golden bun that sat on top of Felicity’s head before nodding with satisfaction at her handiwork. 

“I think I can see my roots,” Felicity carefully sifted through the roots of her hair, earning her hand a quick slap from Sara.

“Hands off, that took ages to smooth down. Don’t you dare mess it up. I’ll deal with your roots another day.” Upon being satisfied that she had successfully defended the hairdo that she had worked so hard to construct she took a step back and eyed Felicity critically.

“You should probably lose that necklace for tonight. A bare throat is more sexy.”

“Nope,” Felicity shook her head firmly. “I’ve worn that necklace since I was eight. It was from my dad. Not taking it off!”

“I suppose it’ll do. You’re so adorable you could wear a pillowcase and it’ll look damn cute on you.” She gave Felicity a nod of approval and reached into one of the sleeves of her top and pulled out an envelope casually dropping it onto Felicity’s lap.

“What is this?” Felicity asked curiously, picking up the seemingly innocuous white envelope.

“Read it and find out,” Sara advised with a twinkle, popping herself onto a single mattress on the floor, which served as her bed. Felicity had spent a significant amount of time convincing her friend to buy a proper bed with a base but Sara assured her this was how she was most comfortable sleeping, leaving Felicity wondering if this was simply the assassin way. 

“Let see, Health Test Results for Owen King,” Felicity read out from the piece of paper extracted. It appeared to be a health screening of some sort. Owen King, whoever he was, was apparently STD free. She frowned wondering if Sara had gone mad or had given her the wrong envelope.

“Sara, I think you’ve given me the wrong envelope. I don’t know who this Owen King is even though it appears that he’s disease free so yaaaaaay for him!”

“Nope it’s the right document,” Sara was grinning from ear to ear now. “Think Felicity, Owen King. Who does that remind you think of?”

Recognition dawned on her within a few seconds and Felicity flung the letter away with a little yelp as if it were going to burn her. 

“Oh my gosh Sara!!!!! You can’t possibly mean what I think you mean,” Felicity practically shouted.

“Yup, it’s exactly who you think it is,” Sara looked unrepentant and was enjoying this far more than decency should allow her to.

“That is a GROSS invasion of privacy Sara! WHY? HOW? You know what I don’t even want to know! Oliver would KILL you if he found out!” She admonished her friend, who had the audacity to sit, grinning at her, looking completely shameless.

“Oliver might be grateful,” Sara was unrepentant. “I snuck into his doctor’s office at night and made a copy. Put my skills to good use for my friends. You know Felicity; you guys have been dancing around each other for months now. You help us on missions; you’re completely in tune with the League. You’ve turned the Hub into your own high tech lab so it’s time you two got over the circumstances of how you met and all that ridiculous flirting and just do it! Both of you need to get laid.”

Felicity shot her friend the most withering look she could muster. “I still can’t get over the fact that you have his Health Test Sara! And you gave it to me! Seriously!”

“Well now you can avoid half of the awkward protection conversation. Last time I went to fill your script for contraceptive pills, I made sure Oliver got a good look.”

“Sara Lance YOU DID NOT! I have no words!!!!” Felicity shook her head incredulously; thanking her stars she had not revealed to Sara the other bit of information about herself.

“You know what you should do, you should hack into your medical records and get him a copy of your last Health Check,” Sara ignored her friend’s outrage and cheerfully continued dispensing advice. “God knows I tried but you are one paranoid little thing aren’t you. I couldn’t find any trace of you.”

“I could stand here and berate you for another hour but I have a date to get to. We’re going to have a long conversation about boundaries another day,” Felicity cast Sara one last disapproving look before reaching out to her nervously. “Now give me a pep talk before I go off. I’m so nervous I think I’m going to faint.”

“Don’t you dare! You’re his unicorn. Anything you do is perfect. Now off you go, have fun, get laid!” She steered Felicity towards the door, gave her a firm push out of the room, a resounding slap on the butt, and slammed her bedroom door shut. 

###############################

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Oliver bowed as he opened the door for her. He had picked her up outside her room, dressed in a white shirt and dark charcoal grey tailored pants. Felicity’s heart had started thumping uncontrollably as soon as she set her eyes on him. He was without a doubt the most handsome man she had ever seen in her twenty-three years. And that included Ray, who she had always thought to be very handsome, albeit in a very platonic, objective way. Oliver was completely different. He was darker with his broody demeanour and intense gazes, which always sent a jolt of thrill inside her. But it was the heart eyes and vulnerable adoring smiles which did her in. When he looked at her with those heart eyes it felt like it would be far easier to just throw all her commonsense out and give him whatever he wanted from her.

“I cooked us dinner tonight, it’s still warm so I thought maybe we could eat first. I’d like to say I would give you a tour but as you can see there is really isn’t that much to see. I just……….I realized all these months and you’ve never even seen the place I’ve lived in all these years. I mean I know you’ve seen Nanda Parbat and all the other League facilities but you haven’t seen my quarters,” he rambled on nervously, giving her that shy smile she loved so much. 

“Oliver, normally I’m the one who rambles,” she giggled. 

“You look amazing tonight. Like a real life Tinker Bell,” he smiled as he looked at her little green skater dress with obvious joy in his eyes.

“You don’t think it’s a little too literal? It’s a big step for me, our date I mean. I wanted to show you that it’s important to me. So um yeah I showed up looking like Tinker Bell, complete with green dress and blond bun.” She smiled sheepishly at him.

“Let’s eat first? Maybe that will keep both our nerves at bay” he led her to a square table lined with a mint green tablecloth where two cloches were laid out on either side with matching cutlery. He helped her to her seat, laid a white napkin on her lap and opened the cloche to reveal a dish which comprised of a roasted halibut filet, turnips, wilted greens and herbed butter. 

“How is it that you are a hot assassin and you can cook a dish like this?” she demanded as she stared at the plate incredulously. Really life was incredibly unfair. Here he was Mr. Hot Brooding Assassin with heart eyes who could cook fish perfectly. She was a pipsqueak nerd with sometimes-wild hair whose attempts at cooking fish either resulted in raw fish or burnt fish. 

“Wait until you see dessert platter I have planned for later,” he laughed as she continued to marvel over the dish in front of her. “Please eat,” he gestured for her to eat as he hovered excitedly over her.

“This is really really yummy! So so so yummy,” she marvelled as she began to make herself comfortable and proceeded to tuck in. 

***

“Where did you learn to cook like that?” Felicity sighed contently as she snuggled down onto his plush dark green couch, her feet lazily resting on his lap. She had made her way through a tray of desserts consisting of mini lemon meringue pies, slices of coconut cake and her most favourite item of all mint chip ice cream sandwiches. As she was pigging out she wondered if she was going to bloat and get a pot belly from all this food.

“After I defeated Ra’s I suddenly had all this freedom. WE all had freedom. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had always thought I was a monster and in some ways I am because of the things I’ve done but suddenly it didn’t need to be that way anymore. I could be different. One of the first things I did was learn to cook. I still performed all my League duties I just spent all my spare time cooking and reading about how to cook. It took my mind off other things in my life.”

This was the first time Oliver had share any substantial information about his past. She sat up and slowly swung her legs off his lap. Seeing his immediately downcast face she scrambled over and threw her arms around him, pulling him to her chest, trying her best to reassure him that he hadn’t repelled her with his confession.

“How old were you when you joined the League?” Felicity asked, stroking his hair gently as he snuggled into her arms.

“My mother had an affair with Malcolm Merlyn and the product of that affair was my sister Thea. When I was eleven and Thea was one, a man, the old Ra’s appeared, and informed my parents that Merlyn had traded Thea, his child to repay a debt he owed to the League. My parents thought it was all a bunch of nonsense until he killed my father to make his point. He said that he would kill our entire household if he was not handed what he had been promised. I overheard the conversation from the staircase and ran out to offer myself up in Thea’s place. I guess lucky for me Ra’s didn’t care who he took. One child was as good as another to repay a debt. I left with him that night. He trained me, took a liking to me and made me his heir. He saw me as his protégé. Everything I know I learnt from Ra’s.” There was a dull look in his eyes and a bitterness in his tone that broke Felicity’s heart. Whatever it was he had been taught to do had scarred him mentally and physically and the effects clearly still lingered. He had been robbed of his entire childhood, an entire life and yet despite the odds he had rebelled against the evil that molded him and had forged a path to do good. 

“Your sister and mother…………..have you ever gone back to see them? After you defeated Ra’s.” 

“My mother remarried at some point and passed away when Thea was eight. Thea’s British stepfather was a good man. He formally adopted her and moved them both to England. She grew up to be a good kid, went to school, college, works as public relations manager for her stepfather. I’ve only seen her once from a distance,” his expression softened when he spoke of his sister.

“Have you ever thought of contacting your sister now that Ra’s is gone?” 

“A few times but I know I never ever will. She’s never met me, doesn’t remember me. There’s no point in bringing turmoil into her life. I killed Malcolm Merlyn that night not only because he was a murderer but I also found out he had been gathering information on Thea. I knew that as long as he was alive Thea would never be safe. I had to make sure she was safe.” The pain in his voice was evident. Felicity found herself wishing desperately that she could somehow take that pain away.

She tightened her arms around him and whispered, “Some good did happen that night. You killed Merlyn and we met.”

“You mean I kidnapped you that night,” his tone was sad, regretful.

“Oliver, I’ve let that go and you need to as well. You can’t keep beating yourself up and doubting my feelings for you because of how we met.”

“You have feelings for me?” he sat up and pulled her toward him, towering over her, once again gazing at her with that stormy, all consuming look that made her struggle to breath.

“You know I do,” she whispered back shakily. “Sometimes I think you want to believe that I don’t feel anything for you, just so you can torture yourself some more.” She met his gaze, gently but firmly telling him once and for all that she was here for him if he wanted her.

Slowly he leaned down, his lips lightly pressing onto hers. He was gentle but more insistent somehow, his tongue parting her lips, willing her to let him in. She kissed him back hungrily, eager to show him that she wanted him, that she wanted this. 

He didn’t need much encouragement as he scooped her up and deposited her on the bed, his mouth never leaving hers as his nimble fingers sought to pry her zipper open. It wasn’t long before he had tugged her dress off and threw it over his shoulder without a second thought. His attention was completely focused on her, laying spread out on his white sheets in a dusty rose coloured lace bra and matching lace panties. There was no good reason to wear the panties other than to drive him a little insane since they barely covered anything. 

“Like what you see,” she grinned at him devilishly and flipped over to give him a view of her delicious arse cheeks, pertly peeking out of those ridiculous lace panties. 

He literally growled as he loomed over her and proceeded to rip off her bra, his hands expertly massaging her breasts, eliciting a series of moans from her.

“Clothes off,” she panted, yanking at his shirt. “I want to get up close and personal with those abs.” He laughed as he worked on his belt and pants while she pulled off his shirt.  
The naked contact was heavenly. All sorts of urges flooded through her as she felt his naked body pressed on top of hers. He nibbled and sucked at her neck, sending all sorts of delightful shivers down her spine before moving onto her nipples, working on her swollen flesh, teasing her, toying with her until she thought she was going to implode.

He released her nipples and began to slowly peel off her panties, his fingers moving towards her groin. He stroked her down there slowly, his hand sliding up, down and around ever so easily as she was so so wet. “I have a clear health test,” he whispered into her ear, his fingers suddenly finding her clit and were now teasing and tugging at it much to her agony. She could feel his erection pressed against her thigh and although she had only ever imagined what it might feel like she knew that she wanted him inside her now.

“Virgin, pretty sure I haven’t caught anything,” she whispered back incoherently not caring whether she had embarrassed herself or not. He paused for a few seconds after the words left her mouth, causing Felicity to whimper in frustration. Through her haze she could see that he was hesitating over this new piece of information. She let out another whimper and wiggled down a bit flexing her hips to grind her wetness against his erection. 

The move proved to be too much for him. He captured her lips with his mouth once again, kissing her passionately. His fingers once again slid down to her groin, stroking her clit, savouring her wetness. She moaned as a finger entered her. One finger became two and before she knew it she was coming, her body feeling like it was splintering into a thousand pieces but oh the pleasure, so much pleasure. 

“I need you inside me,” she pleaded, looking at him straight in the eyes. “Please, I need to feel you inside me,” she whimpered. “Come inside me.”

Something in her voice must have tipped him over the edge. All hesitation faded away as he gave way to his base instincts. He moved her legs further apart with his knee and suddenly he was inside her. It hurt and she cried out involuntarily. She closed her eyes against the pain as he began to move, slowly and gently, deliberately reining back his own needs. 

“Felicity,” he whispered hoarsely. “Are you alright? Do you want me to stop?” Instinctively he eased back, his hand stroking her face. As their eyes met, Felicity realized that despite the pain she didn’t want him to stop. She wanted to feel him, feel all of him, all the pleasure and the pain.

“I want you,” she whispered, drowning in his deep blue eyes. “Make me yours.”

He kissed her breasts, his stubble scraping lightly over her delicate skin as he buried his face between the soft mounds. She shivered with delight, desire flooding through her body. He began to thrust into her again, first shallowly then deeper and deeper and before she knew it the pain had turned magically into pleasure. 

She writhed and moaned beneath him, moving her hips against him as he continued to thrust into her. She sobbed out his name as she came, the waves of pleasure proving too much for her, sending her body into a series of spasms as she clung onto him for dear life. She could feel herself contract around him, her walls squeezing him, finally causing him to lose control. He slammed into her whispering, “I love you” in her ear as he emptied himself inside her. 

***

Felicity lay nestled in Oliver’s arms, her body still tingling and humming from their encounter. She was now acutely aware of a need within her; a need that she did not know existed. Instinctively she snuggled closer to him, pressing her naked bottom against his cock, wiggling in delight as she could feel it hardening against her. 

“Felicity,” Oliver whispered, kissing her neck, his arms tightening around her. “Behave yourself Felicity.”

“But I want to do that again,” she pouted. “Can we do that again?” Without warning she broke one hand free and made a grab for his cock, marveling at its size between her fingers as she fondled it, causing him to groan in frustration as his cock hardened further in her hand. Now that the intensity of the moment had passed, she was feeling like her irrepressible self again, a very horny version of her irrepressible self. She wanted, no she needed to feel all those feelings again.

“You need to recover,” he mumbled, gently prying her hands away from his cock, pinning her down onto the bed. “You need to take it easy for a few days okay baby,” he gestured towards the blood stained washcloth he had used to clean her up afterwards. “But if you behave and keep your hands to yourself, I have other ways of making you feel like that again,” he grinned wickedly at her. 

His next move was interrupted by a series of loud knocks on the door. In all her time with the League they had never been interrupted by anyone ever. Felicity shivered as a feeling of dread loomed over her. Whatever it was, it must be quite a crisis for them to go knocking on Oliver’s door on his date night. Oliver barked out something in Arabic only to be met with an urgent rapid response, also in Arabic. 

“I am so sorry Felicity. Give me a few minutes okay,” he kissed her on the lips and pulled a thin duvet over her naked body, his gaze lingering on her nakedness as he covered her up. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered before slipping on a robe and stepping out of the room.

***

The man who had so adoringly gazed at her as he left the room was not the same man who returned ten minutes later. The door slammed behind him and a pair of stormy blue eyes pierced through her.

“Oliver, what’s wrong? What happened?” she asked, instinctively crawling towards the foot of the bed to reach him, forgetting momentarily about her nakedness.

“What did you do Felicity? What the hell did you do?” His words were menacing as his eyed bore through her, devoid of any tenderness and emotion she had been accustomed to seeing.

“Oliver, you’re scaring me. You’re not making sense,” her voice shook as she wracked her brains, trying desperately to work out what had happened in the last ten minutes that could cause him to be like this. 

“Oh really. Then explain this Felicity.” He shoved a tablet roughly at her and she glanced down to see two familiar faces on screen. It was her dad and Ray. Her head began to spin and the tablet fell out of her hand. 

She looked up and was confronted with his fury once again. “Why did you do it Felicity? You PROMISED you’d stay. YOU PROMISED YOU’D TALK TO ME IF YOU EVER WANTED TO LEAVE.” He was shouting at her now, his words ringing in her ears.

“Oliver I…………..I don’t know why they are here. Last time we talked he, Dad believed I was in India. I’ve been so careful to do everything possible to make sure that he could only ever trace me back to India. You have to believe me! I don’t know how they got here,” she pleaded, tears brimming in her eyes. She scampered off the bed and reached out to hold his hand, hoping her touch would sooth him like it always did in the past. 

It had the opposite effect. She had never seen this side of him before. Despite Oliver’s confessions about the darkness inside him she had always thought that it was his insecurities that haunted him. She had seen brief glimpses of that insecurity when it came to his relationship with her but right now the man in front of her was so far away and so foreign to her. He grabbed her wrist forcefully and continued his tirade. 

“Is that why you fucked me tonight? Is that why you squirmed and moaned beneath me? So that you could distract me by giving me the one thing I wanted very badly so your father and boyfriend could infiltrate the place and save you? Is that why you begged for a second round, to buy them more time? Was it hard Felicity? Was it disgusting to pretend that you felt good, pretended that you wanted me while I was inside you?”

His words hit her like a punch in the gut. Her head was spinning wildly and she could feel all the blood drain out of her face. She lost grasp of reality for the next few seconds as she raised her hand towards his face and a loud smack echoed through the room. 

The noise jolted both of them from their various states of existence. She stared up at him in disbelief, her eyes blurry from the tears that were now spilling down her cheeks. The anger in his eyes had faded away, now replaced with a look of sadness and regret. “Felicity I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean what I said. I………..” He made a move towards her, causing her to back away like a wounded animal. 

“Do not touch me,” she shouted at him, swerving to avoid his hand as he reached out for her. “Don’t you dare touch me ever again,” she sobbed. She hit the edge of the bed, suddenly aware that she was completely naked and vulnerable, the realization causing more panic within her. Blindly she reached for her discarded dress on the floor and pulled it on quickly to cover herself, yanking the zip as hard as she could to fasten it. She did not bother searching for her shoes. She was shaking uncontrollably and despising herself for it. You little fool she thought. This is what you get when you act without thinking. 

“Felicity,” he pleaded. She could see tears in his eyes but she didn’t care. She was done trying to be his savior. “Felicity please let me make this right, please forgive me? You have to let me fix this.”

“Nothing will make this right,” she sobbed at him. “I will never, NEVER forgive you for making me feel like this.” She yanked the door open and ran blindly out of his room through a mist of tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe I hope I haven't traumatised you all with my "smut"
> 
> That was a VERY hard chapter for me to write and really tested me! I was freaking out!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloo!!!!
> 
> Thank you for all your lovely comments on the last chapter! I'm so relieved I haven't scared you all away! 
> 
> I am trying to pack for my flight and stressing out about the fact that I may have not booked enough luggage allowance so I thought I'd write the next chapter for you lovely folks.

Ten minutes, that was all the time Felicity allowed herself to curl up into a ball and sob her little heart out about everything that had taken place. When those ten minutes were over she picked herself off the floor and headed for the shower. The pain of Oliver’s words had been unbearable and she desperately wanted cry and hide in her chambers forever. However reality did not  
allow for such indulgences. She had a father and friend to attend to. 

First she had to exorcise all traces of him off her body. She could still feel his scent, his touch lingering on her body still, causing her mind to flash back to vivid images of their lovemaking. She needed to expel those images out of her mind if she was ever going to function again. She turned the water on the highest setting and proceeded to scrub herself until her skin was red and raw. She quickly towelled herself down, pulled a baby pink shift dress over her head and worked methodically to apply her makeup taking extra care to mask her blotchy eyes and colorless cheeks. When it came to her father, it was best to give him what he expected, which was her rosy cheery self. He had an unrivalled stubborn streak and there was no way she would be able to extract him safely from here if he decided that she needed rescuing. 

Satisfied with her appearance, she marched down to the entrance of the dungeons only to be greeted by a disagreeable looking Laurel.

“What are you doing down here? No one is allowed to see the prisoners,” Laurel announced, with an air of superiority.  
Felicity took in a deep breath. After everything that had happened tonight she was not in a mood for Laurel’s odious ways. 

“I am Oliver’s consort and as I understand it Laurel that gives me considerable rank over you. I want to see my father and my friend. Now move out of my way.”

“No one is allowed to see them. They landed here on our base and were apprehended by the patrol team. They’re effectively prisoners.”

“Laurel I am not going to repeat myself,” Felicity stated calmly. “I am going to walk in right past you to see my father and Ray. You can physically stop me by force if you wish but remember I am Oliver’s consort or you can call Oliver himself and bring him down here. I really don’t care what you do. The consequences are on you.” She swept in with all the bravado she could muster; secretly thanking her lucky stars that Laurel had not decided to body tackle her. She suspected the other woman was going to run bleating to Oliver but Felicity was at that point where she really couldn’t care less. Things had gone to hell between them and now all she wanted was to get her Dad and Ray as far away from this place as possible, even if that meant a confrontation with Oliver. 

***

“Dad! Ray! Are you alright?” Felicity ran to the cell and pressed her face against the bars. They both looked a little crumpled clothing wise but to her relief she could not see any bruises on either of them. Her dad looked a little greyer than usual, possibly due to finding out about his only child’s involvement with a bunch of assassins rather than due to being manhandled by the League. 

“Felicity Meghan Smoak THIS does not appear to be India,” her father drawled calmly as he leveled his gaze on her. 

“Hi Felicity!” Ray waved, looking very chipper for someone who was locked up in a dungeon. 

“Dad, I can explain,” Felicity began wracking her brains for an acceptable version of the truth because *I was captured by assassins while engaging in vigilante activities and then I had sex with the leader and got my heart broken into a million pieces* was really not going to cut it. 

“Oh this better be good Felicity. I’m looking forward to it,” Noah Kuttler crossed his arms, trying his best to look calm and hide his agitation. “Did you join a cult? Oh my God you joined a cult didn’t you? This is why they all wear black. Why are you not in black? Oh my God I know, you were always the most beautiful girl in the room anywhere we went. The cult leader has chosen you hasn’t he? That’s why you’re dressed differently. You’re involved with the cult leader. You’re going to have his babies!”

“Dad! Calm down! You’re not letting me explain!”

“So you can lie to me again? Charity work in India?” She could feel another lecture coming on if she didn’t stop him now. This was not the start she had hoped for.

“Wait how did you find me anyway? I was sure I was untraceable.”

“Felicity I gave you the benefit of the doubt. God knows I thought taking off to India was out of character for you but I know you get up to some shady rebellious activities so I assumed that this was just another phase. But sometimes a father’s paternal instincts just kick in and imagine my horror when I activated your tracker and found that my little girl was not in India but here. I’m not even entirely sure where here is Felicity! It’s not on any normal map of the world!”

“What?! You put a tracker on me?” Her first instinct was to feel for a chip in her neck or arms. Her father had always been over protective when she was little but surely he hadn’t chipped her like a family pet. Then it dawned on her, the little gold necklace with the pink sapphire heart pendant that he had given her when she was five was the tracker. 

“Did you really think I was going to let my only child out into the world without a means of tracing her?” Noah frowned.

“Dad I am a grown woman! I can’t believe you used a tracker on me,” Felicity responded, incredibly miffed that at twenty-three years old he didn’t trust her.

“For good reason it seems! You joined a cult!”

“Dad this is NOT a cult! Stop saying that! Why did you drag poor Ray into this?” Felicity cast Ray an apologetic look. He was standing there awkwardly trying not to get in the middle of their family show down.

“He had a jet! It wasn’t like I could book a commercial flight to your cult compound.” 

“Daddy I didn’t join a cult. I did engage in some vigilante hacking back in Star City and ran into these people who were skilled fighters. They took a liking to me and invited me back here. I realized that they were trying to make a difference in the world in their own way. They had the resources that I didn’t and I have the tech skills they needed so I decided to stay and join forces with them for a while.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me the truth,” her father demanded.

“Because I knew you would freak out and assume that I had joined a cult or something. I thought the India story was more palatable. I’m sorry I lied Daddy.” She thought that she sounded reasonably contrite and hoped that he would drop the inquisition. She suddenly felt incredibly drained and wondered how much longer she could hold herself together before cracking. 

“How long are we going to be locked in here?” her father asked. She took this as a good sign that he was dropping the subject about her lie.

“It’s late. I’ll get someone to bring you a meal and proper bedding. Tomorrow I will iron out the misunderstanding and you can go home.” She smiled a relieved smile at them, grateful that this conversation was coming to an end. She could feel a headache coming on from all the crying earlier and really wanted to return to her room and shut herself in the dark.

“Will you be coming home with us Felicity?” her father questioned sternly. 

The question threw her for a loop and for a moment she held her breath. She had promised Oliver she would stay and ever since she made that promise she hadn’t given much thought to the future. Being the financially prudent little thing that she was, she had put all her worldly goods in storage and rented out her townhouse. She was so caught up in Oliver and helping out with missions she had been in denial about the life she left behind. 

“It’s……..it’s complicated Dad. I’ve committed to staying here for a while,” she answered trying to keep her response as neutral as possible. 

“So you can do more illegal vigilante work with the Cult? Is this because of all the cons we ran when you were little? Is this why you have a taste for a life of crime? You couldn’t just work for Palmer Technologies and date a nice harmless boy?” Her father gestured towards Ray with a meaningful look.

“Dad,” Felicity sighed. “Dad can you just trust me sort out my own life. Please,” she pleaded. 

Her father sensing the weariness in her voice did not commence another rant. 

#####################################

“I need you to let my father and Ray go,” Felicity blurted out as soon as he opened the door. She had trudged back to her quarters and attempted to sleep after her conversation with her father however sleep had eluded her. Hence here she was in his room at an ungodly hour, trying not to stare at his shirtless glory. She needed to do something, to feel like she had achieved something and was not the screw-up that she deemed herself to be after everything that had happened earlier.

“It was a tracker, in my necklace,” she stormed into the room while fumbling with the clasp of her necklace. “I’ve been wearing this necklace for most of my life. Dad had a tracker in it. You can smash it up to find the tracker if you want.” She took the necklace off and shoved it into his hand. She hated herself for being so manic, for losing control of her emotions and her desperation for him to understand that she hadn’t betrayed him by contacting her father. She had nothing to prove to him. He was the one who had hurt her and lit the match to burn everything they had built over these last few months to the ground. 

“Felicity, shhhhhhh,” he shushed her, reaching out for her shoulder. 

Felicity swiftly dodged him. “Don’t touch me and don’t shush me,” she snapped at him. “Are you going to let them go or not? That’s all I want from you right now. You let them go. After they’re safe and far away from here I’ll give you whatever you want from me. Unless you’ve gotten what you want from me already.” She saw him flinch at her words and for a brief moment felt a sense of triumph. She was done thinking about his feelings after he had so recklessly torched hers.

“Felicity I will do anything you ask, anything you want if you can forgive me,” he said with an air of one trying to sooth a very skittish and wounded animal.

“Don’t say that. Don’t give me that. Don’t promise me the sky and the stars when all I am asking you for is one practical favour.” His words made her heart leap but they also angered her. It was a pattern with him. He could never have a pragmatic conversation without waxing lyrical about his feelings for her, his very volatile feelings for her. And that was the core reason why she had been so reluctant to dive head first into a relationship with him. “Will you let my father and Ray go or not,” she asked through gritted teeth.

“Of course I will,” Oliver took a step towards her again. This time she backed away but put less distance between them. “After you spoke to them I ordered that they be moved to one of the residences. They are under heavy guard but considerably more comfortable. They have also been assured that tomorrow you will escort them to their jet.”

“Thank you,” she said cordially. “Thank you for not making this difficult. I know they trespassed on League premises and goodness knows what your laws are in regards to these things so thank you Oliver for not making their lives difficult.” Angry as she was with him, she appreciated him making this easy on her. She knew he would have had to juggle politics within the League to make this happen and she was grateful for that. She even managed a ghost of a smile as she explained further, “My father thought I had joined a cult after the tracker told him I wasn’t in India. So he grabbed Ray on a two men crusade to remove me from your cultish ways.”

“You don’t have to thank me. You know I’d do anything for you.” And there he was off on his tangent again. She felt a spark of anger ignite again despite her feelings of gratitude a moment ago.

“Anything except have enough faith that I wouldn’t betray you,” she said acidly.

“Felicity. You know how I feel about you. I would rather die than hurt you. I don’t know what came over me. The thought that you could want to get away from me, it drove me momentarily insane. I lost all reason. Felicity you’re……you’re everything.”

“NO! Don’t do that! Don’t give me lengthy speeches about your feelings for me or how I am everything to you because you don’t really know me. I may as well be a figment of your imagination. I am not all sunshine and rainbows and flowers in spring or whatever you have dreamt up in your head Oliver. It’s like you laid eyes on me that night and saw something in me that you have weaved into one big delusion. You put me on this pedestal high in the sky where the only way was down and as soon as I fell from that pedestal you lashed out at me.” Her voice grew louder and louder as he stood there, holding his breath nervously. 

“I believe I am a good person Oliver, a person who tries her best in life. I am your friend. I am very attracted to you. I have feelings for you and I know you have feelings for me. But Oliver I am not the sweet young thing that you’re seeking in your mind. I can be your partner but not your savior. I’m not this perfect, innocent little thing who is going to shine light on you and erase all the darkness in your life. Until you can accept that fact there is no future for us. I am just a girl Oliver. The sooner you realize that the better it will be for the both of us. I’m just a very ordinary girl,” She could feel herself shaking, her legs threatening to buckle under her. The lack of sleep and nervous tension was getting the better of her. 

He took a large stride towards her and caught her with one arm just as she was about to topple over. His other arm stroked her tear stained cheek gently as he whispered, “You’re the girl that I love.” He edged his face closer and closer to her until his lips touched hers. He kissed her tentatively, slowly, careful not to scare her away. She didn’t know when the kiss deepened but suddenly it grew more needy and intense. This was probably a bad idea. She should pull away and berate him again for saying that he loved her. She was still hurt and angry with him but god she wanted him. She wanted him so badly. She felt so soft and pliant against his hard muscular frame. She found herself slowly melting against him, getting lost in that kiss. 

She continued to kiss him with abandon, her arms reaching up to grip his face, her body pushing him forward, until he hit the bed. Without any words, she yanked his boxers down and straddled him as he hiked up her dress and slipped it over her head. Having removed the dress with ease, his hands began tearing at the lace of her panties, the delicate fabric ripping before being discarded onto the floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sank onto him, crying out as he filled her.

“Felicity,” he whispered when he finally managed to break away from their kiss, holding her still, as he looked at her with soft questioning eyes. “Felicity, are you sure you should be doing this?” 

She could feel him pulsating inside her, trying to reign himself in, to give her a way out despite his arousal. She didn’t respond, instead she ground into him, driving him deeper and deeper inside her, unleashing all her anger as she screamed loudly, bouncing angrily on top of him. She was so angry, angry with herself for ending up here, angry with him because she had tried to give him everything he wanted and it was still not enough. 

Her body convulsed as sharp waves of pleasure shot through her, causing her to moan loudly. His hands had found their way to her buttocks, kneading the firm smooth cheeks as his face was buried in her neck, nipping and biting at her soft skin. Suddenly the sensation of him pounding away inside her, the sight of him completely lost in her was too much. 

“Oliver, Oooh Oliver,” she cried breathlessly as she came, the orgasm assaulting her body harshly causing her to shake and convulse. Her walls clenched and squeezed around him, gripping his cock tightly forcing him to explode inside her as he shouted her name. They clung onto each other, both trembling as they came down from their respective highs.

***

They stayed entwined for a while with him inside her, their limbs draped around each other. He began to kiss her softly, her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips before pausing. “Felicity I love you,” he whispered. 

She opened her eyes and looked at him hazily, slowly making a move to protest. He stopped her. “Please Felicity. Just let me say it. You can do anything you want but just let me have this. Let me tell you I love you because I need to,” he pleaded, heart eyes out in full force. 

“Oh Oliver,” she sighed breathily. This man was going to be the death of her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has a much needed chat with various parties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloooo!!! I am back! My brain has been rusty, floating away on a tropical island so I hope you guys will still enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> Thank you for reading and I will see you next Wednesday!

Oliver woke up to find himself gripping tightly onto a very nude, sleeping Felicity, who was snoring softly away, her face serene, having lost the distressed sad look she wore when she first entered his room. Relief flooded over him as he slowly hitched one arm up to get a better view of her. She looked so beautiful and so young in her sleep. His mind flashed to the bubbly, irrepressible girl he met that fateful night at Merlyn Global and once again the guilt hit him like a freight train. John was right, he never should have brought her here. He had kidnapped her, brought her to Nanda Parbat against her will and then his dark side had taken over. He had hurt her, Felicity who had never been anything but understanding and forgiving about the circumstances of their budding relationship. She had embraced life with the League, constantly reassured him that she wanted to stay here, wanted to be here, be with him and work with him and what had he done. He had gone berserk and lashed out at her without any evidence or thought at the first inkling of trouble.

He didn’t even have the decency to step away last night. To explain to her that she was acting out from hurt and anger. Instead he had fallen into bed with her again the first chance he got and now when she woke up this was only going to add to her list of regrets and self-loathing. Instinctively he tightened his grip around her, trying to protect her from all the pain in the world, yet realizing he was the only person who was hurting her. Felicity had been fine before him. She was a bright and bubbly ray of sunshine who had never known heartache. She didn’t need protecting, he had needed her to save him and he had ended up destroying her in the process.

***

Felicity was stirring. She looked absolutely adorable, wiggling around, trying to will herself awake before giving up and dozing off again. Oliver couldn’t help but smile as she stirred and moaned, opening her eyes for a fraction of a second before shutting them again. It took her several tries before she mustered enough will power to keep her eyes open as she stared hazily at him.

“Eeeeep,” she cried as her eyes focused on him. Without a word of warning she tumbled off the bed and bolted for the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

He sprinted after her, knocking gently on the door, resisting his natural urge to bang on it for fear of alarming her. “Felicity!!! Felicity I’m so sorry. I was wrong last night, I was wrong about a lot of things. Open the door Felicity. Please talk to me.”

“Oooffffffffff Ooooffff Sooooooffff Toooooofffff brooooooooffff,” a series of unintelligible muffled replies came back through the door. He decided it would probably be wise to sit down and wait. Her reply was garbled but definitely not distressed sounding. Best not to break the door or do anything drastic that would risk her ire.

After about five minutes, Felicity glided serenely out of the bathroom, without a stitch of clothing on her body. This didn’t seem to bother her as she sashayed over to where he was sitting and explained calmly with a smile on her face, “Sorry I have this mortal fear of morning breath, especially since we’re going to have a serious conversation and I just can’t do it if I’m paranoid about how my breath smells.”

He couldn’t help but beam at her, despite dreading what she was going to say. Everything she said and did made him smile. Sometimes it scared him more than anything he had ever faced in his life, sometimes he felt that if he could just talk to her and watch her he would be happy for the rest of his days. He didn’t need anything more.

“Sooooo……about last night. The second and third time last night I mean when you and I…….”

“Felicity I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let that happen. I should have known better,” he tripped over his words, panicking as he mentally kicked himself for losing control.

“Relax Oliver, I’ve always wanted to have angry sex. Unless you regret it because you thought it was bad angry sex. Although you came back for multiple helpings quite quickly so I find it hard to believe you thought it was bad,” she grinned at him impishly, swinging her hips ever so slightly as she leaned in a bit closer. Oliver blinked. Did she just wiggle her nude body at him. He was suddenly feeling a bit bewildered by the whole conversation. He had been prepared to apologize, to grovel, to explain everything that was wrong with him and why he had lashed out at her. But here she was smiling cheekily at him, looking positively predatory. He could feel perspiration trickling down his neck. Felicity Smoak was really out of his league. 

“It was AMAZING,” he blurted out. “You are amazing. But I need you to forgive me Felicity. I need to know that we’re going to be ok. That you’re not going to leave.” He felt a tremendous weight lift off his shoulders as soon as those words were said. For the last few hours he had been tormenting himself with the possibilities of losing her and now his fears were finally in the open. Knowing was better than living in constant dread.

“You,” she replied as she put one knee on the bed and made a move to straddle him. “You deserve all the misery in the world for the way you treated me. But lucky for you, I am hopelessly fond of you and if I am correct you have probably beaten yourself up enough for the past 12 hours. There is no need for me to stick a knife in and torment you as well.” 

She nuzzled his nose before continuing. “I will stay. But there are some things you need to understand.”

“Anything Felicity. I will do anything to earn your forgiveness.”

She grabbed both his shoulders. Her eyes locked onto his and suddenly the mirth vanished out of them. He found himself staring at a pair of fierce blue eyes, the flecks of hazel in them dancing brightly like little flames as she continued to speak. “You speak to me like that ever, EVER again and I will be out of your life so fast and you will NEVER see me again. I know you have your challenges Oliver and I will forgive you this one time but this is your one chance that you’ve used up.” 

“I don’t deserve you Felicity.”

“No you probably don’t,” she responded, eyes flashing again. “But you have me, all of me so don’t screw it up. You feel like having a meltdown you come and talk to me first.”

“I will,” he whispered leaning in to kiss her. 

“And while I’m at it I want to leave the base whenever I feel like it. You all do it why shouldn’t I,” she demanded. Her eyes were no longer angry and flashing. They had softened and the bright, impudent spark he lived for had returned.

“Anything, anytime,” he replied, kissing her again, slowly sneaking a kiss on her neck.

“I am going home for Thanksgiving,” she demanded.

“I’ll escort you back myself,” he murmured, nibbling at her neck, trying not to laugh at how very Felicity it was to be worried about having a confrontation with morning breath but being completely fine with having said confrontation while straddling him naked.

“Oliver are you listening to me??? Because I need you to take me seriously if there is going to be an us going forward,” she grizzled briefly before pausing to add, “Although I suppose this is an improvement on your usual self loathing declarations.”

He stopped his advances on her neck and cupped her face with both hands. “Felicity I have never been more serious about anything before in my life. I will never hurt you again.”

She smiled her bright, beautiful smile at him. “Glad we sorted that out! Now go brush your teeth Oliver.”

***

“I need to speak to Ray before they leave,” Felicity declared snuggling further into him as they laid spooning under the covers. After he brushed his teeth they had done things. Lots of things. Delicious, wonderful things that made her feel feelings. Addictive feelings. Felicity wanted to stay in his bed all day and do it all again but first she really needed to drag herself back into the real world and attend to pressing matters.  
There was a palpable silence and she could feel Oliver grit his teeth at the mention of Ray. A wave of irritation swept over her. Seriously! After all the “things” they had done he was jealous of Ray. Ray whom she had never even dated. 

“Oliver I’ve known Ray for years and if nothing has happened then, nothing will happen now,” she sighed. She was exasperated at him for being so jealous about poor Ray, however she understood the way Oliver’s mind worked, his fear of abandonment by her. 

“He must feel something for you if he’ll leave his empire to fly out to a foreign destination to save you,” Oliver muttered darkly.

“Yes he does feel something for me. We’ve been friends for years. He was my first friend in Star City and helped me settle in when I moved there. We have brunch together. He’s going to be at Dad’s for Thanksgiving.” Her chest hurt a little when she turned around and saw the sad look on Oliver’s face.

“Come here,” she urged, propping herself up on the pillows and taking his heavy self into her arms. “I want to speak to Ray because I’m due to have a conversation with him that I probably should have had for a while.”

“What conversation,” Oliver looked less upset now, more intrigued. 

“I’ve know for a long time that Ray has feelings for me. That he wants to be more than friends. For years I’ve skirted around the issue, never encouraging him but never shutting him down either. He’s a really great guy, runs a great empire and he’s just so………legitimate. And I was this small time vigilante, committing felonies left and right. It didn’t feel right for me to start anything with him. I think we’ve both always thought that one day I’d grow up a bit and outgrow this need to rebel, that maybe then something could happen between us. But I met you and you’ve opened my eyes to a whole other world. I don’t feel ashamed of my extra curricular activities anymore. I could finally be with someone who was my equal and shared the same values as me.” She paused and glanced at him wondering how he would take this revelation. “You also make me want to climb you like a tree so that’s a bonus,” she added for good measure. 

“What are you planning to say to him?” he asked, nuzzling his stubbled cheek closer into her arms, tickling her. 

She hugged him tighter and kissed his forehead. “I want to tell him not to wait for me anymore. That nothing will ever happen between us because I’ve met the right person for me. And that I still want to be his close friend because I value his friendship.” 

“I understand everything you’re saying Felicity but I can’t help feeling petty,” he sighed.

“Hey we practically live with a bunch of your exes,” Felicity teased. “You have ex lovers littered everywhere. I didn’t even date Ray.”

“You’ll be seeing him for Thanksgiving I suppose?” Oliver asked tersely.

“Yes I will. And you’ll learn to live with that,” she responded firmly. She could on some level understand his insecurity. But she knew he could be better than that and indulging him was not going to help with his issues. Seeing his crestfallen face she leaned over, planted a heavy wet kiss onto his mouth and whispered “Remember I chose you.”

###############################

“You’re not coming home with us are you?” Ray sounded resigned and not at all surprised by this. They were sitting on a bench in the courtyard surrounded by various antique pots and statues. After settling down from his initial excitement of examining the old pots and relics, Ray had become somewhat somber as he realized the purpose of their conversation.

“No, not right now. But I’ll be home for Thanksgiving,” Felicity answered slowly. “You’ll be joining us as usual won’t you?” 

How exactly do you tell someone that things are over between both of you when nothing had ever even started? It felt like a break up except in this case it was more of a *We’re never going to get together ever but would you like to be friends* speech. 

“Are we going to meet your new friend at Thanksgiving?” Ray asked quietly, his sedate demeanour cluing her onto the fact that he was upset. Ray generally had one default temperament. He was always relentlessly perky and cheerful, even more so than Felicity herself. In fact sometimes she thought they were a bad influence on each other, each one revving the other person up. When Ray was upset he loses his enthusiasm and appeared calm and serene, as he was right now.

“Maybe……I don’t know…….I haven’t worked it all out yet.” Felicity wished she could give him a better answer. She knew he wasn’t one to judge but a part of her wanted to prove to Ray and her dad that she had a clear plan and knew where she was going. That had always been her trademark. She was always meticulously well planned. That had gone out the window as soon as she met Oliver.

“Felicity Smoak without a plan. I never thought I’d live to see the day. He must be one hell of a guy.” His answer took on a lighter note, teasing her a bit. “I’m happy for you Felicity. I’ll admit I’m disappointed things didn’t work out between us and for what it’s worth I would have waited for you, until you were ready but I am happy for you.”

“Ray……..I………I’m sorry. I wanted it to work out between us. I thought that maybe one day, I would be different and………..but then I met him. He makes me feel like I belong. Not that I am some freak who doesn’t belong anywhere because I have friends in Star City as you can attest to. I guess I’ve always been at it alone, all my illegal activities that you and dad never approved of and my other friends never knew about. It was………lonely. Then I met him and so many crazy things have happened and I have done things I didn’t expect myself to do, nothing bad, just impulsive. But I feel like someone understands me, or at least that part of me that no one else around me could grasp.” The words tumbled out all at once, providing a cathartic experience she did not know she needed.

“You did good Felicity,” he pulled her in for a quick hug, before stepping back and eyeing her critically. “You look happy. And I will always be happy that you’re happy Felicity. I’m glad you abandoned your tendency to over calculate everything and go with the flow. Just come back for Sunday brunch every now and then. We miss you. It gets a bit awkward with just myself and Crazy Dog Lady Anna.”

“Oh stop calling her Crazy Dog Lady Anna!” Felicity protested on behalf of her friend. Anna ran a Dog Rescue Shelter and was quite batty about animals. Felicity, having a fair bit of free time due to her flexible working hours had met the pretty brunette when she volunteered as a dog walker for the shelter. The two hit it off and Felicity had dragged Anna along to many a Sunday brunch much to Ray’s dismay. Ray and Anna were wary of one another. Anna deemed Ray to be a straight-laced soulless corporate suit whilst Ray considered Anna to be a crazy animal hippy, which was not technically untrue since the girl had the most bizarre run ins with all creatures great and small.

“She owns like a million dogs Felicity!”

“Three Ray! She has three dogs and they are all superbly well trained. OMG why are you brunching alone with Anna anyway if you think she’s so crazy.” A pleasant possibility suddenly dawned on Felicity and she beamed at him. 

“You like her! Raymond Palmer you like Anna! I’ve been gone for three months and you’ve been brunching with her for three months!!!! OMG!!!! You liiiiike liiiiike Annnnnaaaaaaa,” she trilled in a sing song voice, punching him playfully on the shoulder. “Soooooo has she let you meet the pups yet?”

“Felicity I do not like Crazy Dog Lady Anna!” Ray retorted, turning a few shades pink and looking slightly ruffled. “I mean I do like her, she’s weird in an really intriguing way. Like you don’t know where the weirdness will take you but that doesn’t mean I like her. In that way,” he added spiritedly. 

“Oh Ray you two would make an adorably picture perfect couple! You want to donate free electricity to the city; Anna wants to save abandoned dogs and cats. You’d be the poster couple for philanthropy. And it would all be legal too!” 

“Aren’t you supposed to walk us to the jet and send us home?” Ray was eager to avoid any further discussion about Anna. Clearly she was onto something.

“Fine, be a spoilsport,” Felicity sighed. “Lets go pick up Dad now and I’ll say goodbye. Do you think you can soften the blow by placating him on the way home for me? I’m bracing for a lecture before you guys take off but I really don’t want another one at Thanksgiving.”

“Only if you stop teasing me about Crazy Dog Lady Anna.” 

“Sure. I won’t mention it again. But I do wish you many happy a brunch with Anna until I visit. Send word when she lets you meet the pups.”

“FELICITY!!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to tackle Laurel in this chapter as well but Laurel is exhausting so I will tackle her next chapter! Plus no one wants to come back from a tropical island and deal with Laurel right away!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations are had

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!
> 
> Here is your weekly instalment! Hope you enjoy it!

“Shouldn’t you be packing?” Oliver peered at Felicity as she rummaged through the recesses of their shared wardrobe, bits and pieces of clothing flying everywhere. After her father had safely flown off the premises, Oliver had wasted no time convincing Felicity to move into his quarters. She had been uncertain at first (citing that sharing a bathroom would kill their romance) but after much cajoling on his part she had relented and had moved in. He was on cloud nine. He had never thought it was possible to be so happy or to love someone so much. Felicity often reprimanded him when he expressed this sentiment, declaring that no mortal should worship another mortal in such a way and that by doing so he was flying in the face of providence.

“I am packing,” she declared, haphazardly depositing a bundle of clothing into her suitcase. There was no folding, no separating of items. Felicity’s idea of packing was to grab random items of clothing and to throw them mumble jumble into a suitcase. 

He walked over and began to fold the items in the suitcase neatly, separating them into piles of dresses, underwear, and cardigans. 

“Aww thank you. It’s so cute, you the big bad assassin repacking my suitcase,” she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a hearty kiss on the lips. “You don’t need to do that. Everything that I need is in there. It all turns up eventually.”

“You’re such a menace,” he couldn’t help but smile. For someone who liked to plan and was meticulous about certain things she often did a complete 360 and was absolute chaos and mayhem when it came to other things.

“That’s why you love me,” she grinned cheekily, emptying another handful of underwear into her suitcase, which he immediately removed and proceeded to stack neatly in the underwear pile.   
“Speaking of menace, I have a something for you,” he gestured towards a rectangular shaped mound by the door that was covered with a large yellow blanket. 

“Ooh it looks big,” Felicity squealed in delight. “Is it a present for me?”

“Don’t get too excited, it’s just something I thought you might like. It’s nothing really.” 

With a gleeful whoop Felicity made a beeline for the package and peeled the yellow blanket away. Underneath lay a wooden oak chest with daffodils carved into the wood around the chest and on the lid. 

“I made it for you. You always complain that when the servants fold and stack your underwear and pajamas and pack them neatly into your closet, that you can never find anything. Plus you wreck all the stacking after ten seconds of rummaging. So I thought I’d carve you a big chest where you can just dump all your stuff in and rummage to your heart’s content,” he explained smiling indulgently at her. 

Felicity turned around, launched at him with all her might and threw her arms around his waist, giving him a fierce hug. After a few seconds she stood on her tippy toes and cupped his face with her small soft hands. “I love you,” she whispered, nuzzling his nose with her own. “I love you so very much Oliver.”

Oliver felt the air had been knocked out of his lungs. “You….did you just say you love me?” 

“Yes I did! I love you Oliver,” she launched herself at him again, peppering his face with little kisses.

“But…….but it’s a chest! I’ve dreamt of this moment for months and months. I gave you an Emerald promise ring; you thanked me and kissed me on the cheek. Now you tell me you love me because I made you a chest for your laundry, possibly insinuating that you’re a slob?” he asked sounding a wee bit miffed.

“I’ve been in love with you for a while now Oliver but yes I’m afraid I did say it for the first time over a chest. It’s beautiful by the way. I can’t believe you carved all those Daffodils on it yourself. It’s perfect. You’re perfect and I love you so much.” She giggled and pulled him in for another crushing hug, snuggling against his chest. 

“I can’t believe you said it over a wooden chest,” he mock grumbled, pulling her towards the bed, his hands wandering under her bright magenta camisole. Felicity did not believe in dressing up for the day unless she had somewhere to be or someone to meet. When she was in their quarters, which she had affectionately referred to as their home, she was always dressed in an array of panties or tiny shorts and flimsy camisoles. It was very handy for immediate access he thought as his hands roamed under her top. She let out a whimper as his hands reached her breasts. 

Felicity absentmindedly fumbled with the belt on his jeans, working to remove them before she settled onto his lap, pressing her body against his. It was positively shameful how automatic her reflexes were around him. It was like her brain shut down and could only send basic instructions whenever she was in this state. Remove Oliver’s pants. Straddle Oliver. That was all her brain told her to do. 

“I bet you wanted me to set off some fireworks and sprinkle the bed with rose petals just before I said it,” she giggled, her fingers brushing lightly on his rock hard abs. 

“I wouldn’t have complained about that,” he mumbled distractedly, his attention focused on pressing feather light kisses onto her neck, as his hands slid the straps of her top off her shoulders. 

“You’re a hopeless romantic you know that.” His passion and capacity to love never ceased to amaze her. For someone who had witnessed and survived so much horror in his life, it was remarkable how incredibly idealistic he was about romance. 

“Are you going to make it up to me for denying me my big romantic declaration?” he whispered heatedly. She suddenly found herself on her back, his body pinning her small frame to the bed as he spread her legs.

“Mmmm I love it when you go all growly and intense on me,” she moaned as he yanked off her panties and entered her with one smooth stroke. 

***

“Can you not do it Felicity? For me?” they were spooning in bed, both feeling a little spent from their earlier encounter. 

“Not up for discussion anymore Oliver,” Felicity huffed in exasperation, threatening to roll away from him. He scooted after her and pulled her back into his arms again.

“If you took a moment to actually think about how dangerous it is, you would understand why I keep begging you not to do it,” he said earnestly.

“I’m deep frying a turkey! It’s not like it hasn’t been done before. Thousands of Americans deep fry their turkeys each year.” Boy did she regret telling him about her plans. He had stoically accepted her request to go home, had showed no visible reaction when he realized that Ray was going to be there at Thanksgiving. In fact he had suggested that they stay at a League safe house just a few suburbs away from her dad’s place. He had declined to join them for Thanksgiving for obvious reasons (secret assassin can’t show his face etc) but he had been genuinely excited to go on this trip with her. The sticking point was the turkey. The damn turkey. He was convinced that she was going to maim herself deep frying it and it kept cropping up in various conversations they had. 

“You can’t even fry eggs properly Felicity. Why try to deep fry an entire turkey?” he persisted. 

“Because this will all come down to science! I have diagrams Oliver! I have worked out a pulley system, complete with diagrams. There will be no standing over a vat of hot oil for me. I plan to lower the turkey down via a pulley set up.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” he countered.

Taking a moment to realize how ridiculous the situation was she let out peal of laughter and rolled on top of him. “I love you Oliver but I am frying that turkey. Now don’t you need to go and have a final debrief with Nyssa? I have a few scans to run myself and make sure the others don’t mess with my machines while I’m gone.” 

She gave him a quick peck on the lips and hesitantly tried to summon her willpower to pry herself off him. He did not cooperate, his lips finding hers, pulling her body back onto his. 

***

It was another two hours before they managed to emerge from their room, each one vowing to stay away from the other until their external affairs had been taken care of.

He was on his way to the war room to meet with Nyssa. He didn’t anticipate any problems with the temporary handover. Nyssa had taken a shine to Felicity and as a result she had mellowed out considerably no longer chiding him or challenging him unless she had legitimate cause. Occasionally when she did question his decisions she now had Felicity and John in her corner.

Oliver entered the room feeling upbeat. He was going away with Felicity for the first time. He had only known her in the confines of the League. He yearned for and was excited at the prospect of seeing Felicity Smoak out in the world, in her world. They had discussed at great lengths what her life had been like in the outside world, yet he could not help but wonder what other dazzling gems about herself she would expose him to. 

A small spring of hope had been bubbling inside him in recent months. What if there was hope for him. If someone like Felicity could love him maybe he wasn’t beyond reprieve. Maybe the things he wanted but had never dared to acknowledge, the far-fetched dreams he had secretly nursed could come true too. 

The smile was wiped quickly from his face when the sight of Laurel greeted him. She was the last person he wanted to see. No doubt she was here to tell him what a terrible mistake it was to let Felicity off the base. For a brief moment Oliver was tempted to turn and walk out of the room but he knew he had to be better than that.

“Hi Laurel, what are you doing here? I thought I was meeting with Nyssa,” he kept his tone neutral but there was an edge of warning in his voice. He hoped she had picked up on this and would back off to avoid any unpleasantness. 

“You’re really going to do it aren’t you? You’re going to go off gallivanting with her, proving that you’re the obsessed fool everyone thinks you are.” 

Evidently Laurel had not picked up the hint. Than again Laurel had never been able to read him or understand him. A surge of irritation flooded him, as he wondered why his stupid youthful self had not cut ties with her earlier. He had been running from her his whole teenage and adult life, even when he had fancied himself in love with her. Now with the wisdom of age and years of experience behind him, he wondered what it was he had seen in them that had made him string her along for years whilst lying and cheating behind her back. What did she see in him, in the unhealthy one-sided relationship that they had?

“I’m not discussing this with you Laurel,” his tone was dull and flat. Really he didn’t care anymore. He just wanted to end the unpleasantness so he could discuss his business with Nyssa and come back to find Felicity.

“Ollie, I know you don’t want to hear the things I tell you. I know they don’t endear me to you but I say them because someone needs to bring you down to reality. I am your best friend and I feel that it’s my duty to tell you the cold hard truth whether you like it or not,” she continued, a small superior smile gracing her lips. “Have you heard the rumblings inside the League, do you even know how disillusioned everyone is with you ever since you doubled down with your little golden haired angel?”

“No Laurel I haven’t because I only hear it from you. I’m not even sure you and I are friends at this point because a friend would not repeatedly badmouth the woman I love. My little golden haired angel has been a blessing for us all. We’ve halved the number of casualties and injuries since she started working with us. My people trust her. So in answer to your question Laurel the only person I hear it from is you. Repeatedly! And it has to stop.” 

He could feel his temper rising as he clenched his fists. Had Felicity been present she would have made a comment about him popping a vein. A brief image of Felicity elbowing him cheekily flashed inside his head, tempering his rage momentarily. His anger may have been slightly quelled by the thought of Felicity but his tone remained firm. “I know you don’t think much of Felicity, Laurel for whatever reasons of your own and I don’t expect you to. But Felicity is the love of my life and you need to respect that or I don’t see a friendship in our future.”

“So that’s it? You think you can cut ties with old friends now, that you don’t need me anymore because Little Miss Perfect has waltzed into your life and saved you. Well here’s a reality check for you Ollie! Girls like her don’t stay with men like you for long. I know in my bones who you are, what you are and I have never given up on you. I’m still here after all these years, after everything you’ve put me through. But have you thought of what will happen when she gets over this life? When she gets over you? When she’s decided that dark and brooding was fun for a while but she wants to settle down with a white picket fence, two kids and a dog? Where does that leave you when that day comes Ollie?”

Her words hit him like a knife in the chest, playing into every fear he had ever had since meeting Felicity that fateful night. For a moment the idea of Felicity walking away from him left him nauseous. It seemed like an eternity had passed before he replied. 

“If that day ever comes Laurel I would let her go and wish her the best because I love her more than anything, more than any happiness I could hope to have with her. This might all be fleeting but at least for a glorious length of time, whatever that may be, I had her and she was mine. It would hurt like hell but if she didn’t want to be with me but I knew that she was out there somewhere, living her life and happy I would be ok. I would happily let her go.”

“Then you’re clearly a bigger fool than I imagined.” With that Laurel turned and walked out of the room, her thin frame shaking with rage.

***

Felicity was perched on the bed, typing furiously on her laptop, wearing nothing but one of his black T Shirts, the dark fabric of the shirt contrasting with her golden halo of wavy hair. She glanced up from her work, took one look at him and carefully closed her laptop, placing it on the side table before beckoning him over.

Oliver fell into her arms; his head snuggled into her chest as he inhaled her scent, a mixture of roses and something fruity. 

“One of those afternoons huh,” she whispered, kissing his forehead as she wrapped her small arms tightly around him. 

“Yeah,” he sighed, his eyes gazing at her, taking in her beautiful serene face. She was always so animated and bubbly, it was rare for her to be so still. Yet somehow tonight with one look she knew he needed her like this. It was eerie how she could read him better than anyone despite only knowing him for a few months. 

“I love you,” she whispered. “Always will, forever and ever and a lot of evers.”

***

“Shouldn’t we find a more inconspicuous way to travel,” Felicity muttered as they prepared to board the jet. She knew League members often took the jet out for certain missions however as this was a personal visit she felt uncomfortable about using the jet. Oliver had assured her that as their Leader he was privy to certain privileges and that his predecessor had had no qualms about exploited his powers as Ra’s Al Ghul. A jet ride was a drop in the ocean in the great scheme of things. 

“Stop fretting Felicity and board the jet,” Oliver placed his hand on her back, ushering her gently towards the entrance. “I have a surprise for you when we get to the safe house,” he whispered with a smile on his face. After much discussion she had insisted that she would be leaving her Dad’s after lunch on Thanksgiving. Despite his assurances that he had been alone on many Thanksgivings she had insisted that she could not bear the thought of not spending some time with him on the day and that she was planning to give him lots to be thankful about. He stopped arguing because he was only mortal and he could not refuse an offer like that from a girl like her. 

One minute he was listening to Felicity’s response, the next second a sudden metallic glint caught the corner of his eye. Acting purely on instinct he threw himself over Felicity, shielding her as he felt something slice through his left shoulder. He reached into one of his many hidden pockets for a knife and flung it with all his might, the knife lodging itself into the attacker’s stomach, disarming the person at once. Still clutching onto Felicity, he heard her let out a sob.

“Are you hurt? Did you get hit?” he gripped her with his good arm, feeling around frantically for injuries, still shielding her with his body. 

“Nnnno,” she sobbed. “But Sara, we have to get her to the infirmary!”

He finally took his focus off Felicity to see Sara lying on the ground bleeding where his knife had pierced her stomach.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which decisions are made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!
> 
> How are we all holding up after 505?
> 
> I am really struggling to write after 505. I plan everything in my head, I get excited and then I read something about the show which completely bums me out. 
> 
> But I am a person who finishes what I start and I feel that I owe it to you lovely people who are still reading my story! So I will soldier on and finish it. You have my word!
> 
> I am finding that alternating chapters of this story and "More Than Blue" improves my mood somewhat so updates will likely be fortnightly from now on.

“Sara Bear what did they do to you?” Felicity exclaimed as she ran towards Sara who was sitting in the heavily guarded infirmary looking bedraggled and a little worse for wear. It had taken her a few days to be able to sneak down to the infirmary. Oliver had practically been her shadow since the assassination attempt and any time that he was away from her he had made sure John had eyes on her at all times. She had begged and cajoled John to let her have thirty minutes with Sara. 

“Just lots of repetitive and hostile questions by your boyfriend and the threat of keeping me under surveillance forever but nothing bad,” Sara replied, grinning at Felicity. “I’m surprised he didn’t lock me up in the dungeon but I suppose you wouldn’t stand for it so he had to relent.”

“Oh Sara I’m so sorry. Oliver doesn’t mean it. He’s just been a little...rattled by the events and he was looking forward to leaving Nanda Parbat with me so with those two factors combined he hasn’t been at his best,” Felicity explained earnestly, squeezing Sara’s hands as she spoke. 

“I know chicken, don’t apologise. I’m the one who tried to kill you with a throwing star remember. Besides after the massive tantrum Oliver had at you when he thought you were trying to escape, I’m kinda surprised he hasn’t had me killed yet for making an attempt on your life.”

Seeing the hurt in her friend’s face, Felicity leaned over and gave Sara a big affectionate hug, being careful to avoid her wound. The assassination attempt had wounded Sara a lot more than it had wounded Felicity both figuratively and literally. Felicity knew that to be an assassin of Sara’s caliber and to lose her control of her mind was a big blow to Sara’s psyche, one that would take her a long time to recover from. Like Oliver, Sara had a lot of demons and a general distrust of the world. Something like this was going to haunt her for a long time.

“I don’t remember Felicity. I’ve tried so hard to think back to that day but I don’t remember anything. I don’t understand it. One minute I was in my room meditating and the next I woke up in the infirmary with a stomach wound being interrogated by Oliver for trying to kill you,” Sara recounted the events for what must have been the thousandth time as Felicity smoothed out her hair.

“I know Sara Bear, I know it wasn’t YOU who wanted me dead. Just give me a few more days to talk Oliver to his senses. You’ve just said you know he goes a little nuts about me so try not to get too upset at his meltdowns.” Felicity sighed as she stroked Sara’s arms in an attempt to comfort her. 

She really needed to tackle Oliver who wasn’t in any mood to be rational at the moment. He was all growly and grizzly and wouldn’t let her go anywhere without John or himself at her heels. One of his biggest fears had played out before his eyes and he was lashing out again, this time with Sara being his prime target. She wondered if it was time to bring out her loud voice. She could understand his terror at the prospect of losing her but they couldn’t keep doing this. They were at a standstill with Oliver interrogating Sara every day with the same questions expecting an answer that never came.

“Are you…are you trying to stroke me like a cat,” Sara let out a giggled as Felicity continued to pat her absentmindedly.

“Whoops,” Felicity giggled in spite of herself. “I had the cutest Golden Retriever when I was little. When Leo got too old for fetching games we’d sit next to each other and I’d stroke him for hours. It used to make both of us so happy.”

“Are you saying I remind you of a Golden Retriever?” Sara chuckled. “Your mind makes the oddest leaps chicken. You’re so adorable.”

“Nothing wrong with you reminding me of Leo. I loved Leo! I loved Leo so much,” Felicity said defensively. 

“Is this your way of professing your love for me in a round about way?” Sara teased. The colour had returned to her cheeks and she was looking much brighter than when Felicity had first come to see her. 

“Of course I love you Sara Bear,” Felicity grinned and gave Sara a hearty smack on the cheek.

“Oi steady there Sunshine! The last thing I need to add to my list of troubles is for your hysterical boyfriend to think that I’m making moves on you.”

The infirmary door swung open suddenly and a stern looking John walked in. He gave Sara a curt nod before addressing Felicity. “Your thirty minutes are up Felicity. Time to go before your boy catches you here and has another fit.”

“Just another thirty minutes John? Pleeeeeeeeease???? You can’t keep her guarded in here forever without any company. It’s not right!” Felicity pleaded. 

“You take that up with Oliver. I’ve never seen him so worked up before in his life. I’m not even supposed to let you down here so how about you do both of us a favor and leave like you promised.” John was immovable and completely unsympathetic to her and Sara’s plight. 

Felicity made a move to protest once again but Sara shook her head and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You go off chicken! You’ve done what you do best, you’ve brought light and sunshine to me today. I feel much better now compared to before your visit. You head back before Oliver storms his way down here.”

Felicity threw her arms around Sara and gave her a fierce hug. “I’ll be back Sara,” she whispered as John pried her away and ushered her out of the room. 

***

Oliver true to form was glowering at her when she returned to their quarters. Felicity sighed as she walked past him and pulled out a pair of pajamas to change into. She was going to need to get comfortable if she had to face another fight about the whole Sara situation. 

Felicity didn’t know what was worse, the actual assassination attempt on her, the ranting Skype call with her father about why she had to miss Thanksgiving afterwards or the multiple arguments she and Oliver had, had about Sara in the last few days. 

Sure it was awful and scary to know that someone wanted her dead but her father’s stern disappointment and resigned devastation about her joining a cult ranked right up there. As was Oliver’s constant moodiness and antsy behavior. 

“And where did you vanish to this afternoon?” Oliver asked, in a tone that was clearly gearing for an argument. 

She slowly pulled off her dress and stood facing him in nothing but a pair of yellow lace panties and matching bra. “You already know where I was. I went to see Sara. Why would you bother asking me that question in that tone unless you want to pick a fight? I’m tired of arguing with you about Sara, Oliver. Whoever wants me dead is must not be completely disappointed in the failed attempt since they’re succeeding nicely in their attempts to split us up. We were supposed to go away together and all you do these days and follow me around and fight with me about Sara.”

His face went white at the mention of splitting up. “Felicity, you…you don’t mean…”

“No,” Felicity sighed, slipping off her bra as she continued to speak. “No Oliver I don’t want to break up, I’m not leaving you. I love you remember. I just think that we need to stop arguing about Sara and you need to realize that you can’t lock her up forever.”

“Hey I’m not the bad guy here,” Oliver took a step towards her. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands.

“No you’re not. You’re the man who threw himself in harm’s way to protect me and I love you for it. But Sara isn’t the villain here either. Have you ever stopped to think that even when she was completely drugged out she tried to kill me in your presence, as opposed to when I was alone in the Hub finalizing my scans or wandering down the corridor or in the bath? On some unconscious level she must have resisted killing me. That trying to kill me with you right there was the least damaging way to make an attempt on my life.”

“You have absolutely no real or scientific basis for that,” he countered, removing her hands from his face and clasping them to his chest. “We just got lucky that she picked a bad moment to strike. Maybe the drug affected her and she wasn’t able to gauge the best opportunity to kill you.”

“Sara is a top assassin. She can give you a run for your money on a good day. She can beat John in a spar! I can’t believe that even in a drugged state, her first option is to try and kill me while you were right next to me. She must have been fighting it. If you had only let me see her properly in the first few hours I could have run some tests. Heck I can even try to run some tests now.” Felicity gazed up at him imploringly, pressing her soft breasts against his shirt. She wasn’t above using a bit of crafty seduction if it meant buttering him up a bit. 

“Don’t lets argue about this, especially when you’re half naked.” His eyes were starting to glaze over as he stared at her half naked form. Oliver blinked a few times before continuing, “We really need to talk. I have a proposal.” 

Seeing her eyebrows arch at the word proposal, he let out a small nervous laugh. “No not that kind of proposal, although if I thought you were ready for it, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“You want to talk? Really? Who are you and what have you done with my Oliver?” she teased.

“Yes I want to talk. And you’re right we can’t continue like this. The thought of you being in danger is driving me out of my mind. I have something I want to discuss with you but first you need to put some clothes on. I can’t find my words when you’re half naked.” He was staring at her chest as he spoke, mesmerized.

Felicity could not contain her laughter any longer. Oliver was such a gentleman and she knew he was in love with her for her weird ways and wacky big brain but a part of her really enjoyed situations like this when just her mere physical appearance could reduce him to a pile of mush.

“But I don’t want to put clothes on Oliver, I need to soften you up in case we get into a heated argument.”

“Trust me Felicity, nothing is softening right now,” he pulled her into his chest and proceeded to run his hands all the way down her bare back.

“Okay! Okay I will put some clothes on! Focus Oliver! Plans remember! You have a plan!” Felicity scrambled away and hastily pulled on a pink pajama top with a picture of a slice of watermelon on it. “That better?”

“Much!” Oliver plopped himself onto the bed and pulled her into his arms. 

“So I’ve been thinking that no matter what we do I’m always going to fear that your life is in danger here. I can’t go on missions, I can’t leave you because I’ll just go insane with fear when I’m away from you.” Felicity made a move to protest but Oliver pressed a finger lightly on her lips to stop her. 

“Just hear me out Felicity. As long as we’re here I’m never going to feel that you are safe. Now whether that’s the truth or not, it doesn’t matter. I need to know that you’re safe.” He paused and kissed the top of her head.

“I joined the League when I was eleven. My entire life was devoted to the League, both before and after Ra’s. Bringing you here was the first thing I’ve ever done for myself. I’ve never had a life outside of here and since meeting you I find myself wanting more and more to find out who I am without the League.”

“Oliver are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Felicity gazed up at him, giving him a soft encouraging smile. 

“I want to give up my mantle as Ra’s Al Ghul. It really belongs to Nyssa anyway and I know she’s a good person at heart and will continue the good work we’ve done here. I want to work out who Oliver Queen is without the League and most importantly I want to be with you. I know you’re not ready for this yet but one day when you are ready, I want a house, with a couple of kids and a dog. I want to chauffer our kids around to all their weekend activities and varnish the deck and mow the lawn.” 

Oliver’s eyes were shining and his face was full of mirth as he described in detail the life he wanted. Felicity could not help but look at him with wonder and amazement. His youth and so much of his life had been nothing but darkness, yet here he was earnestly telling her about his dreams of green lawns and suburban life. 

“You know you don’t have to leave the League to be with me. I would stay here with you. I enjoy the work that I do here with you guys. It gives me purpose and I wasn’t exactly a law abiding citizen before you met me.” Felicity bit her lip. Part of her was thrilled that he wanted to start this new chapter with her, that they could start a new life together and work out where they belonged in the world together. Another part of her wondered if he was being rash about his decision to leave the League for her. It was all he’s ever known and what if the outside world didn’t suit him. 

“Felicity I know what the outside world is like. I’ve been undercover as a civilian for months before. The League owns several houses scattered around the world. I just want to live on my own terms from now on. I want to be with you without the weight of the League on my shoulders. I want to have a future that doesn’t involve missions and assassinations. I want us to have kids and raise them in a normal environment,” he said as if reading her mind. “So Felicity Smoak, what do you say? Will you leave the League of Assassins and settle down with me?”

She rolled over to face him and planted a deep, slow kiss on his lips. “I’d go anywhere with you Oliver.”

***

“I must say My Lord this has not come as a great surprise to me, although we did think that you and Felicity Smoak would remain with us for a while yet. Perhaps until when she was willing to accept your hand in marriage.” Nyssa was as formal as ever, although Oliver could detect maybe a hint of a smile on her face. Clearly she was pleased for them, as pleased as Nyssa could be about anything.

“I hope you will accept this ring back Nyssa. It should have always been yours.” He slid the hideous ring off his finger, the symbol of Ra’s Al Ghul, feeling like his shackles were finally removed and handed the ring to Nyssa.

“I will accept this with honour and you can rest assured that I will continue in the work that you’ve done over the past few years. Although I will refrain from kidnapping pretty chatty blondes.” Nyssa bowed formally, her face grave and stern as if she had not just made a dig at him. 

Oliver let out a chuckle. Who would have guessed that Nyssa Al Ghul had a sense of humour? 

“If you wouldn’t mind obliging me on one last issue Nyssa. Felicity and I want to leave as quietly as possible and with minimal fuss. Can you wait until we are gone before you call the League together and announce yourself as my successor?”

“I understand you are worried about the safety of Felicity Smoak. Do not fear, I will not take any action until you are far away from Nanda Parbat. At the same time I would be much obliged to you if you could release my beloved back into my care.”

“Consider it done. Besides my beloved would not let me have a moment of peace if I did not release your beloved soon,” Oliver grinned, feeling elated. The great wide world was waiting for Felicity and himself.

***

“Oliver!!!!! Oh Oliveeeeeeeer I have just realized we can’t do this! We need to go back to Starling and rent the cheapest, dinkiest little apartment in the Glades until the tenant’s lease on my townhouse runs out and we can move into it. OMG what were we thinking, planning a trip around the world. We don’t have enough money. I haven’t had a consulting contract in months and my App sales are only enough for my mortgage and rent. I can probably pick up a few contracts when we get back but that will take a while before I get paid. I just did some preliminary budgeting in my head and there is no way we can afford to travel! This is what happens when you don’t sit down and budget properly before deciding on spontaneous trips to Asia!” Felicity wailed in one breath as she paced around. She was a whirlwind of stress and activity.

“Shhh don’t fret Felicity honey,” Oliver tried to sooth her.

“Don’t honey me!” she squawked in response. “Maybe I can get a refund on those tickets! They were cheap tickets though and I was going to hack in and get us an upgrade to business class. I know!!! I’ll hack in and cancel the tickets and give myself a refund back.” 

“Felicity if you will calm down for one minute and let me get a word in edgewise, I am trying to tell you something,” Oliver huffed in amusement.

“What could you possibly say that will get us out of this financial predicament Oliver! I know you will get a job but you need to work out what your passion is. After all these years you don’t want to just be a rat in the rat race. You deserve to find your dream career! Goodness knows even I couldn’t tolerate a 9 to 5 job so I don’t know why you’d want to do that.” She paused for a breath and was interrupted, as she was about to launch into another panicked rant.

“Felicity I’m a millionaire,” Oliver announced calmly. 

“Is this some sort of a joke Oliver because it’s not funny? Here I am freaking out about money and you crack jokes about being rich.”

“Felicity if you hack into my civilian identity and look at my bank records you’ll find that I have a few million dollars in my name as well as two very nice properties, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast,” he stated calmly, as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

Felicity let out squeak, grabbed her laptop and began to type furiously. “OMG you are rich and here I was freaking out about how I was going to support us! I even contemplated taking a 9 to 5 job at Star Labs!” 

“Why??? How?” she gestured questioningly at the screen. “You’re an assassin! Do you guys get paid?”

“We did actually. We did lots of assassinations and hired killings for some very wealthy and powerful people. Each assassin would get a cut from each mission they completed and the rest of the payment went to fund the League. As none of us had lives outside the League, we just dumped the money into accounts set up for our civilian identities so I’d guess that most of us are pretty well off.” 

He paused and tried to gauge her reaction before continuing, “I suppose you could say it was blood money but we killed a lot of bad people who were enemies of other bad people and so on.”

Felicity turned off the screen and walked over to give him a hug. “What’s done is done and I don’t question your past whatsoever. But if you aren’t comfortable using that money Oliver, if you want a new start, I’m sure we will find a way to manage. I don’t want to use that money if it dredges up some bad memories for you.” 

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “You’re remarkable Felicity but I want to use that money to fund our new life. No matter what I do I will never fully forget my past so I want to at least use that money to make our lives easier.” 

“It's just dawned on me that you’re mega hot AND rich,” Felicity giggled gleefully. “Big score for me that night when you decided to kidnap me. Seriously who doesn’t want a hot brooding assassin millionaire to whisk them off their feet and take them around the world?” 

“So which quality of mine is it that’s tempting you to leave with me? The hotness, the millionaire or the brooding assassin aspect of my persona?" Oliver asked, smiling at her, feeling like anything but a brooding assassin in that moment.

“Definitely the hotness! I’d run off anywhere with you as long as you have those abs and your pretty face,” she laughed as he pretended to look offended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They do not have the best of luck whenever they try to go on a trip together! Let's hope they make it out of Nanda Parbat without drama this time!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity solves a mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!!!!
> 
> Wheeee!!! It's almost crossover time! Let's hope for a cute Olicity scene! 
> 
> I stayed up really late writing this chapter so please excuse any editing mistakes.
> 
> I love this chapter and I hope you guys like it!!!! 
> 
> I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments on the last chapter. I was initially going to write this in a slightly different way and your comments actually made me think a bit differently. I am more satisfied with my new idea so thank you!

Felicity gazed at Oliver’s sleeping form, resisting the urge to kiss him. He was sleeping soundly tonight, the worry and fretfulness of the last few days having left him. His decision to leave the League had finally unburdened him, removed the shackles that he had worn for most of his life. He looked so young and serene, as he lay there fast asleep, probably dreaming of the adventures that awaited them in the days to come. Felicity’s heart hurt as she continued to gaze at him. Finally unable to contain herself she leaned down and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. He stirred momentarily but his steady breathing pattern returned, a small serene smile settled on his face. She placed a tablet on her pillow beside him with a note attached to it, hastily retrieved the clothes stashed under her bed and changed into them as fast as she could. She exited the room, ignoring the guilt that was gnawing away in the pit of her stomach. 

Felicity made her way quietly and swiftly to the Hub, taking a brief moment to congratulate herself on her cat like movements. All that training with John had definitely worked and these days Felicity could sneak around with about 30% of the stealth and ninja-ness of the other assassins. By other assassins she meant John, Sara and Nyssa. Oliver and his never-ending intensity was always hyper aware of her when he was awake so he did not count. Another pang of guilt hit her as her thoughts strayed to Oliver once again. She quickly pushed the thought out of her mind and switched on her machines. She was doing this for Oliver, for their future together. A future, which would always be threatened unless she got to the bottom of this mystery. 

Oliver for all his demons and alleged darkness was a spring of boyish eternal hope when it came to the future and the world in general. Perhaps living most of his life in the League had given him a rather romantic view of the world outside. He saw two very distinct sides. The League, which was shrouded in darkness, murder and blood verses the life he could have in the outside world with her. She knew that to Oliver she represented light and hope. She embodied everything in the outside world that Oliver craved and longed for. The attempt on her life had shaken him to the core and once he found himself unable to find the true culprit, he had clung onto the belief that once they left the League behind, he could forget everything in his past and start again. 

Felicity in all her perceived light and sunshine was a shrewd realist. Until they found out who this person was who had drugged and violated Sara’s mind in order to get her to kill Felicity, they were never going to be truly safe. Sara was never going to get her closure until they found the culprit. Felicity knew that she did not have super assassin skills but she did have enough pluck and years of criminal experience behind her. She was going to be Oliver’s prince, or rather Princess Charming and give him the happily ever after and picket fence he so desperately wanted. 

She was only logged in for a few minutes when a fruity smell wafted towards her nostrils. Let the games begin, she thought to herself as she waited for an appropriate amount of time before slumping onto the desk in front of her and closing her eyes. 

***

The antidote she had taken earlier had worked like a charm. Ever economical, Felicity briefly wondered if she could market the concoction she had created. She supposed it would have to undergo rigorous testing. She had only ever dabbled in chemistry (she loved all things science but there was so little time for all the scientific pursuits she wanted to undertake) so chances are the FDA would not take her seriously if she tried to formally submit the drug for testing. She really wasn’t keen to sign up with some big pharmaceutical company, rebellious little thing that she was. Plus who on earth in real life needed an all-encompassing antidote to different kinds of drugging anyway. Perhaps she could sell the formula to Nyssa when all this was over. She was sure the League could put it to some use. 

However, antidote successes aside, feigning unconsciousness was trickier than she had thought. Felicity did not realize the things one took for granted when one was awake. For instance the ability to sneeze, or the ability to scratch the stubborn lingering itch on the tip of her nose. Felicity resisted the urge to wiggle her nose, as the persistent tingle of itchiness grew stronger. She was sure this was purely a result of her mind telling her that she was not under any circumstances to try and scratch her nose. It was like when someone put up a wet paint sign. It automatically made you want to go and touch the paint right away. 

Felicity pushed all thoughts of scratching and itchy noses away as she focused on the quiet conversations and voices around her, trying her best to identify the voices and names being used, matching them up in her mind to the hundreds of assassins she had encountered during her time with the League. She mentally compiled a list, etching every name of any person she could identify into her brain. 

Felicity was transported for some distance in what she believed to be a van or some kind of large vehicle. She resisted the urge to peek, telling herself to rely on her other senses. As far as kidnappings go this was not entirely unpleasant. Once she had fully committed herself to the cause she was pleasantly surprised at how little fear she felt. If her nemesis turned out to be whom she thought it was, there really was not much to fear. Truth be told she was far more worried about incurring Oliver’s wrath when this was all over. He was going to absolutely lose it at her and possibly chain her to him for the rest of her days. 

*** 

A pair of handcuffs clicked onto her wrists, and she found herself handcuffed to the back of the chair. She was relieved to find that her legs had been left free. Clearly her captors did not think much of her. Not that she could roundhouse kick them or anything cool like what Sara could probably do. But still it was one less hindrance if one’s legs were free to move. She started to wonder when would be the appropriate time to feign waking up with two huge splashes of ice cold water hit her face, one after the other. Goody that was her cue to wake up. 

Taking her time to splutter and choke on the water, Felicity finally opened her eyes wearily and groggily, living out all her thespian fantasies and briefly wondering if she was enjoying this a bit too much. Goodness what was wrong with her! She glanced around the room nervously, gulping and squinting for added effect, before finally settling her eyes on a venomous looking Laurel. 

BINGO. Everything she had suspected but had no proof to back up had turned out to be true. 

“So it’s you. You drugged your own sister? Why would you do something like that? Why not just kill me yourself or use someone else to do it? Do you know what state she’s in now after you messed with her mind? After everything that she’s been through! Everything you’ve both been through together. She’s your sister!” 

Felicity had a plan and it did not include this rant about Sara but her sense of outrage overcame her ability to think rationally in that moment and the need to understand why Laurel would do such a thing to her sister was too great for her to overcome. Both girls had lost their parents in a tragic accident in the South China Sea before being rescued by the League. They only had each other in this world and Felicity could not fathom why Laurel could do that to her own flesh and blood. 

“SHE SLEPT WITH OLLIE,” Laurel screamed. “She did the unthinkable to me and I vowed that I would punish her for it one day. He was mine, he loved me, we were going to ask Ra’s for an engagement and then she went and seduced him. He was never the same after that. He moved onto one girl after another and never came back to me whole again. Meanwhile she found Nyssa, settled nicely into the role of being his trusty old friend. Where did that leave me? He was the love of my life and I could have been the love of his if Sara hadn’t come between us.” 

“You guys were very young and she made a mistake.” Felicity decided it was time to cool things down a bit. Laurel was on a rampage and it really wasn’t in her interest to have Laurel go full nuclear on her.

“YOU SHUT UP!!!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?” Laurel bellowed at her, hazel eyes blazed vividly. “You think you can breeze into our lives, twinkle twinkle little star, dazzle Ollie, become Sara’s best friend and then make Ollie run off with you to live happily ever after. You thought that I was going to let you breeze in and take my Ollie away. You think you all can ignore me like I don’t exist. Like I don’t matter to anyone anymore?”

“Laurel, we, I wasn’t ignoring you. You never showed any interest in me besides disdain so I kept my distance. You have your history with Oliver and I respect that but you never acted like you wanted to be friends so I left you alone.” Felicity had realized by now that it was in her best interest to calm Laurel down. She had expected Laurel to possess her usual dour, superior demeanor and insufferable attitude when they ultimately faced off. What she had not expected was an extremely unhinged woman who was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Laurel ignored her completely and continued ranting. “I was going to teach Ollie a lesson he would never forget. His trusty old friend Sara was going to kill the object of his affection. Ollie would be devastated of course and he’d mourn you and hate her. But then he’d return to me. Because I’ve always been there for him and will always love him and he will eventually remember how much he loved me. But do you know what Felicity?”

Felicity decided that silence was golden in this case and answering the rhetorical question would probably fuel Laurel’s rage further. She was not wrong on this as Laurel picked up where she left off and continued her rant once more.

“Oliver put his life on the line for you, Sara failed, Oliver showed that he really didn’t give a rat’s ass about his friendship with Sara anyway because all he cared about was you. His Tinkerbell. Isn’t that what he calls you with all your perkiness and light that he loves so much? Apparently you are the love of Oliver’s life Felicity and he was going to run away with you to have perfect little blond babies and live happily ever after.”

“Actually they wouldn’t be blonde. He’s got brown hair and I dye mine so no blonde babies for us. Maybe no babies at all actually! You know how these Nanda Parbat romances are. Who’s to say we’d last the distance.” Felicity bit her tongue to stop her onslaught of verbal diarrhoea. She thought she could handle this, and she could to some extent but she had been prepared for a smarmy evil Laurel not a stark mad Laurel. Why did her plans never work out?

Laurel’s eyes narrowed as she advanced towards Felicity and fastened a contraption around her neck with a click. 

“Laurel……wha… what are you doing?” Felicity asked nervously, already fully aware what it was that had been fastened around her neck. 

Laurel smiled down at her and gently stroked Felicity’s cheek with her hand. “You are very beautiful Felicity. I can see why Ollie is a fan. All big blue eyes, blonde golden curls. Perfect little face with dimples. Just like a real life fairy. It’s almost a pity to blow that pretty little head off. It is so very very pretty Felicity.” She continued to stroke Felicity’s cheek, before moving her hand over to touch a blonde curl, with a look of absolute fascination on her face.

“Wh..What do you mean Laurel?” Felicity’s instincts told her that she needed Laurel to explain just a little bit more. 

“I’ve left Ollie a message to come find you. It’s not very hard; dim as he is he’ll work out where you are. And when he does and opens that door. KABOOM!” Laurel giggled manically as she ruffled Felicity’ curls. “Off with your very pretty head while Ollie watches on. Poor Ollie. No happily ever after, no more mythical fairy. Just me.” 

Laurel let out another series of manic giggles, her arm still resting on Felicity’s shoulder when Felicity decided finally that enough was enough. More information would be nice but delaying things any longer could cost Felicity her only opportunity to act. She gripped onto the pen-like contraption that she had been weaving out of the lining of her sleeve while Laurel was busy delivering her crazed monologue. With as much strength and speed as she could muster, Felicity stabbed the pen into Laurel’s thigh and pressed the button. Almost instantaneously Laurel fell down to the ground in a crumpled heap. 

Felicity’s triumph was short lived when she realized that she still had the matter of the bomb around her neck to attend to. That was the wild card she had not factored it. She had underestimated Laurel in that respect, just like Laurel had underestimated her. 

Holding Felicity at gunpoint, knifepoint, maybe even attempting to throw her off a cliff, were all scenarios that Felicity had considered. These were all to be resolved by her simply taking Laurel out with her heavily modified Taser Pen (which she had built herself and could knock an assailant unconscious for an hour, she proudly noted). Blowing off her head while Oliver watched on was not a contingency she had planned for. 

Sighing to herself Felicity retrieved the universal handcuff key from her other sleeve and removed her handcuffs. John and Nyssa once had the audacity to suggest that she should dislocate her thumbs whenever she wanted to get out of handcuffs, a suggestion which she had scoffed at. Why the hell would anyone do that when most handcuffs used a universal key that you could easily stash somewhere? And what the fig were you going to do afterwards with a pair of dislocated thumbs while running around trying to fend off bad guys. Really these assassins loved doing things the hard way. 

As soon as she was free Felicity activated the Comms in her ear and the tracking device attached to her underwear. “Koala Lou to Black Swan, target is down but I am in more trouble than I anticipated so I will need you to make sure no one enters the perimeter until I say so ok. And whatever you do, please tell me you can keep Arrow away from here.”

“Why are you able to assume the title of Koala Lou, beloved furry creature and I must assume the title of a most aggressive water bird,” Nyssa protested on the other end of the line.

“Oh for goodness sakes this is NOT the time for this conversation Black Swan,” Felicity snapped. “I have a bomb around my neck! Yes! Canary’s crazy ass sister attached a bomb around my neck and hooked it to the door of the room I am trapped in. If anyone opens the room, BOOM! My head gets blown to smithereens. You need to ensure that NO ONE enters the building until I sort myself out do you understand Black Swan?”

“Are you sure there is nothing I can do for you? There are other means of entering that room where you are held. I can remove you from the room via a different exit and get one of our explosive experts to attend to the device.” Nyssa’s voice was slightly frantic and the note of genuine concern in it touched Felicity. 

“No. I’ve thought about it but I just don’t know what the trigger variables are. For instance if I’m far away enough from the trigger in the door, that may cause it to explode. I…I need time to concentrate. I’ve looked into disarming bombs before for some of Canary’s missions. Can you just make sure Arrow stays out of this?” Felicity bit her lip. Right now her biggest fear, perhaps even greater than her head blowing off was the fear that Oliver would come rampaging to try and find her.

“Rest assured he has been subdued and will be unable to seek you out.” Felicity winced at the word subdue. She wondered how on earth they were keeping him at bay. Even if she did get out of this with her head attached there was going to be hell to pay. Oliver was going to be livid! 

“Thank you Black Swan. I will contact you once things are…resolved.” With that Felicity clicked off her Comms, closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She had directed Sara in diffusing several bombs over the last few months without actually seeing the bomb up close itself. She was up close with this one all right, which logically should make it easier to examine and diffuse. 

She tilted her neck, craning it downwards to examine the contraption. It had no timer on it, which she took as a good sign. This meant that the trigger was purely activated by the door and as long as that door remained shut, she had a reasonable amount of time to work this out. She knew that if the bomb was only triggered by the door there was no need to diffuse it per say. All she needed to do was pick the lock of the necklace and get it off her neck. Upon reexamining the bomb, she was 99% sure that the lock mechanism was completely unrelated to the actual trigger. The locking mechanism was manual and was merely designed as a means to take the contraption on and off.

Flexing her fingers a few times to ward off the nervous energy which was beginning to give her the shakes, Felicity plucked a hairpin out of her hair and set to work on the lock. You can do this Smoak she cheered herself on thinking of the numerous safes and vaults that she had cracked into as a child. 

One of her father’s greatest schemes was to secure employment as waiter at various parties held by the rich and famous. He would often bring pint sized six year old Felicity with him, accompanied by a sad tale of widowhood and the inability to find/afford suitable childcare for her. Many people did not give little Felicity a second thought and she was allowed free reign of some of the most luxurious homes. Her trusty second hand little laptop (which she stored in her Little Mermaid backpack) would be used to disable any security cameras or alarms, leaving little Felicity with ample time to pick at the locks of all the vaults and safes and walk off with one or two inconspicuous items. 

Felicity almost cried tears of joy when she heard the familiar click of the lock that was now music to her ears. She hastily removed the explosive contraption and placed it on the far end of the wall behind a dilapidated cupboard. 

Well her first problem had been solved. She wasn’t going to lose her head at least. She took a few moments to survey her surroundings and consider her options. She had no idea where she was but the room she was in was old and run down with rotten floorboards. On the left hand side of the room was a small window, which revealed nothing but a patch of dawn sky when she peered out. She couldn’t very well toss the bomb outside the window and open the door to escape. She had no idea who or what would be walking down there when the bomb exploded and harming any innocent bystanders or animals was out of the question. She couldn’t scale down the side of the building, she was not badass enough for such shenanigans and would just crack her head and die. Besides she did not have any rappelling equipment. 

There was no telling how large the explosion radius would be, which meant that opening the door and making a run for it was also out of the question. There was also the question of Laurel’s unconscious body, which she would need to drag along with her. As insane as Laurel was, she was also Sara’s sister and letting Laurel get blown up into smithereens was not an option as tempting as that prospect was. Felicity scanned the room inch by inch when she suddenly spotted it. There was a small window high up next to the door. It was pretty tiny but probably just big enough for both herself and Laurel to fit through, as they were both petite girls.

Felicity dragged Laurel’s limp body to the window, which she had now placed a chair under to give her additional height and easier access. Suddenly it dawned on her that time was running out fast. The modified Taser would only render an assailant unconscious for an hour. Since Laurel was a slight girl she might be knocked out for a bit longer but time was ticking and Felicity did not want to deal with a lunatic conscious Laurel. She needed to subdue her for a longer period of time. 

Felicity considered her options. She could:

*Hit Laurel on the head – Probably not the best option since she had no way of knowing how much damage she would cause. She wanted to knock her out, not give her permanent brain damage. Although the girl was already a few french fries short of a happy meal and Felicity wondered if a bop on the head would really do her that much more harm.

*Kneecap Laurel – This would certainly stop her from moving and causing Felicity any further trouble. However there was once again the problem of inflicting permanent damage. Felicity had read somewhere once that if you dislocated your knees and they did not heal properly you could suffer from permanent ongoing consequences. Despite Laurel wanting to blow her up, Felicity had no desire to maim Sara’s sister for life. 

*Duct tape Laurel up – There was a roll of duct tape in the room which Felicity assumed that Laurel had intended to use on Felicity. Felicity had an irrational love of duct tape. As a child she believed it was the solution to anything broken. If it was broken, just duct tape it back together.

Duct tape it was. First she bound Laurel’s arms together and then her ankles using generous amounts of duct tape. Eyeing her work critically, Felicity realized that one of her failings today had been underestimating Laurel. Laurel was not only unhinged, she was also a trained assassin. Armed with this thought Felicity set to work, duct taping Laurel’s entire face, including her eyelids and lips, leaving only her nostrils exposed in order for her to breath. She also set to work taping together Laurel’ thighs and torso. By the time she was finished Laurel looked like a duct tape Egyptian Mummy. Laurel may be an assassin but there was enough duct tape there to be a nuisance and impede her, giving Felicity enough time to escape should Laurel gain consciousness before Felicity was able to reach Nyssa.

Satisfied with her handiwork, Felicity hoisted Laurel’s mummified form up and pushed her through the window. She landed with a thud. Felicity pulled herself up and climbed out of the window. It was time to contact Nyssa again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity faces Oliver

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!!!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and for all your comments and kudos! I have loved writing this story and am so happy some of you like it so much!
> 
> I *think* there are only two chapters left and then we will be done! 
> 
> If my week goes well and 509 does not traumatise me too much I will hopefully get the next chapter out to you by next weekend. If 509 traumatises me, give me another fortnight!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Nyssa, true to her super assassin form seemed to materialize out of nowhere as Felicity hauled Laurel’s body along the empty hallway, searching for an exit. How the hell would anyone do this with broken thumbs Felicity thought as she continued to drag Laurel’s heavily wrapped body along by the legs, occasionally scraping her duct taped head against the loose floorboards (purely accidental of course). 

Laurel had shown no signs of waking up and Felicity briefly wondered if maybe her voltage calculations had been incorrect. She had rushed her work on the construction of the modified Taser pen. She pushed the thought away, after all she had checked for Laurel’s pulse and she was definitely alive. 

“I see you have been rather creative in your capture of the target.” Nyssa spoke with a straight face giving nothing away, bar a slight twinkle in her eye.

“I was worried she’d wake up,” Felicity responded with a sheepish grin. “There was no way I could fight her so I figured she’d need to peel some of this duct tape off herself before she could come after me.”

“I myself would find the abundant amount of tape used rather unpleasant and inconvenient. I applaud you for your innovative ways Felicity Smoak.” There was a hint of a smile on Nyssa’s face as she continued. “When all this is resolved may I show you some ways to disable your enemy with just your index finger?”

“Serious? You can take someone down with a finger? You poke them into submission?” Felicity asked incredulously, momentarily feeling insanely jealous that she did not have the mad fighting skills that these people had.

“Yes, there are various parts of the body that you can apply pressure to in order to disable an opponent,” Nyssa responded calmly. Seeing Felicity’s face fall she added kindly, “We have been trained in these skills since childhood. None of us can cause as much mayhem as you can with a computer and certainly none of us can boast that we created Kamikaze Kangaroo.”

Felicity smiled at Nyssa’s attempt to comfort her. Really the woman was a big softie under it all. 

“Nyssa we need to do something about the bomb collar that Laurel attached to me. I shoved it behind the cupboard in the room I was held. We can’t remove it or open the door because I have no idea how far the blast radius is. Laurel did say it was meant to take off my head which makes me think the blast radius will only be small because she would have wanted Oliver to live but I don’t want to chance it.”

“Is the room accessible from the outside?”

“It’s on the second storey. There was a window. I can point it out to you when we are outside.”

“Then I believe I can resolve that problem for you once we get outside.” Nyssa did not seem perturbed by the niggling issue of the bomb, which comforted Felicity a great deal. She had a lot of faith in Nyssa. 

***

They exited the building and loaded Laurel’s still unconscious body into the van. 

“That’s the room where I was held,” Felicity pointed out. “What are you going to do?”

Without responding Nyssa shot an arrow towards a nearby tree and seemingly flew up the tree with complete and utter ease. She perched herself comfortably on one of the branches, took aim at the window and shot an arrow through the open window. Within a few seconds the noises of a small explosion could be heard. 

“Do not look so worried Felicity Smoak. I can assure you that the building is unoccupied,” Nyssa stated matter of factly, noting the look of concern on Felicity’s face, as she glided down from the tree with ease. 

“Thank you Nyssa. You’re very…efficient.” Felicity suddenly felt incredibly tired. She hadn’t slept all night and her head had nearly been blown off. Sighing with both a combination of relief and weariness, she followed Nyssa to the van as they headed back to League Quarters.

***

“Nyssa just how did you and John manage to keep Oliver from coming for me?” Felicity finally asked, after fidgeting restlessly for much of the trip home. Her feelings of relief and pride at successfully capturing Laurel and outing her co conspirators had been short-lived. Oliver was going to be furious that she had lied to him and put herself in danger. Well she hadn’t lied specifically. She just took off to execute a dangerous plan in the middle of the night without telling him. Despite knowing that all their problems had been resolved tonight, there was a small part of Felicity that could not help wishing she had somehow included Oliver in her plans. She dreaded the thought of confronting Oliver again and incurring his wrath. 

“John Diggle waited outside his quarters and shot him with a tranquilizer before locking him up to the dungeon.” Nyssa answered frankly as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do to the outgoing Ra’s Al Ghul.

“You guys locked him in the dungeon?” Felicity yelped in disbelief. “Oh my goodness that is just going to drive him even crazier. You guys couldn’t think of a better way to stop him from coming after me? A more calming way?”

“I was not responsible for this action,” Nyssa informed Felicity serenely. “My role was to have eyes on you at all times Felicity Smoak. John Diggle bears the sole responsibility for Oliver’s restraint.”

“How angry is Oliver exactly?” Felicity asked cautiously, covering her face with her hands as if somehow that would help reduce Oliver’s potential rage at her. “Did John tell you on Comms what state Oliver is in?”

“As you American’s often like to say -He is having an epic meltdown-,” Nyssa smirked. Felicity groaned and sunk lower into her seat. 

***

“JOHN LET ME OUT OF HERE. I SWEAR TO GOD YOU WILL REGRET THIS. WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?” 

“Like I keep telling you Oliver, she’s safe. She’s with Nyssa on her way back. Now if you can stop having hysterics.”

“You guys lied to me why should I believe you? Why are you chaining me up in here if she’s supposedly fine? OH MY GOD IS SHE DEAD? IS SHE HURT? Is this why you’re not letting me out?”

“I’m keeping you in here because no one wants to deal with you until Felicity comes back and handles you herself.”

Felicity could hear the loud yelling as she sprinted towards the dungeons with all her might, having left the still unconscious Laurel in Nyssa’s capable hands. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach when she finally entered the room. Oliver was a very sorry sight to behold. He was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a tight, white, sweat laden T Shirt which clung onto his tense muscles. His bright blue eyes were flashing and blood shoot, looking wild and eerily more blue than usual. His body was tense and his knuckles were white as he clung onto the bars of his cell.

“Oliver,” she whispered, her heart twisting as she saw the panic ebb away from his features and a look of relief slowly washing over his handsome face as he laid eyes on her. “Oliver I’m so sorry. I’m so so so sorry I did that to you. I couldn’t leave here without knowing who did it. I knew it was Laurel but I had no evidence and I was so afraid that you’d freak out and confront her if I said anything to you. She had followers, a small set but she did have them and they would have caused trouble sooner or later. So I kept it from you and enlisted Nyssa and John’s help. I need you to understand that I did it for us. I didn’t want us to always look over our shoulder. I know you’d always protect me but I just couldn’t leave here not knowing the truth especially since I had my suspicions.” 

She ran towards the bars and continued to babble. Felicity grabbed his hands through the rungs, gripping onto them for dear life. Oliver at once took her small hands into his. He didn’t say a word, just held onto her hands and continued to gaze at her with so much intensity it did nothing for her already shot nerves. 

Wordlessly as if reading her mind John briskly crossed the room and unlocked the cell door before marching back to the entrance of the room, observing them with an amused silence.

Slowly Oliver let go of her hands and made his way out of the cell. He continued to watch her for a brief few seconds before storming up to her and engulfing her into a crushing hug, his nose pressed to her hair, his arms pulling her into his body and holding her there tightly as if he was never going to let her out of his grip ever again. Felicity did not know how long they stayed in that position when Oliver eased his grip on her and cupped her face with both of his hands.

“Do you have any, ANY idea what you did to me?” He finally asked, his bright blue steely eyes passionately gazing into hers. “Do you know what it was like for me to wake up to find you gone and have nothing but a video recording of you casually telling me of your plan to offer yourself up as bait. Do you know what it was like for me to sit in that cell wondering where you were, who had you and what they could be doing to you as the minutes ticked by?”  
“Oliver I……” 

Felicity made a move to say something to placate him but Oliver was having none of it. The fear of losing her had worn off and he was now feeling a blind white rage. He continued to speak, his eyes boring into hers, never leaving her face even for a brief second. 

“I am generally a fearless man Felicity. I have done and seen almost everything. But do you know the sheer terror that you managed to inflict on me when you vanished just like that. Do you know how much I love you Felicity? Do you know what I felt in all those terrible hours?” 

Without warning he let go of her and retrieved a dagger he had concealed on his person and thrust the handle into her hand. 

“Why don’t you just stab me right here Felicity. Just stab me in the heart and get it over with. Because I cannot go through that again the next time you decide to pull a stunt like that on me. Just stab me right now Felicity. Go on, just aim straight for my heart, rip it out and take it with you.” 

He advance towards her and Felicity backed up slowly, not sure whether she should just drop the dagger he had given her or whether it was more prudent to let him get it all out of his system first. Oliver had a flair for the dramatic when it came to her and she knew that she had hurt him deeply and frightened him. She had frightened Oliver who was fearless. If this was how he needed to express his anger momentarily then so be it. 

“Ok Romeo, that’s enough,” John’s stern voice broke them from their little scene as he moved in swiftly and yanked Oliver back by the scruff of his T Shirt. He took the dagger away from Felicity’s hand, pocketed it and glared at them both exasperatedly. 

“You,” he admonished, poking Oliver in the chest, “need to get a grip, stop the hysterics and give her a chance to explain and apologise. You have every right to be angry at her, at me, at Nyssa because we lied to you but you cannot indulge yourself with a dramatic meltdown.”

“You,” John continued, rolling his eyes at Felicity, “need to stop pandering to his outbursts and explain yourself rationally. Tell him what you told Nyssa and myself. Now if I step away do you guys think you can have an adult conversation about this?”

Oliver nodded sulkily and made a low grunting noise. John let go of his grip and stepped away to resume his position at the door, still keeping a wary eye on them.

Silence descended over the room as Oliver stood there with his shoulders slumped, looking like a wounded puppy. Felicity sidled up to him and sliding one around his waist, snuggled her cheek into his body while the other hand stroked his chest in a circular motion. 

“I am so very sorry,” she whispered. “I knew you’d be upset but I didn’t realize how much my going off would terrorize you and for that I am truly sorry. Just tell me what I can do to make it better?” She gazed up at him, tears starting to well in her eyes. They were due to leave and commence their trip in a few days, the threats against them had been neutralised but he was so angry and hurt. Felicity began to doubt herself and wondered if solving this mystery had been worth this.

“Don’t do that,” he muttered gruffly, kissing the top of her head as she continued to absentmindedly trace patterns on his chest.

“Don’t do what,” Felicity whispered, still looking up at him.

“Don’t look at me with those come hither bedroom eyes and touch me like that. You know I can’t resist you when you do that.”

“But I’m not,” Felicity protested, purposely making her voice breathy now. “I’m just apologizing and telling you how very, very sorry I am. And I’d do anything…anything Oliver to make it up to you,” she purred. 

She had been genuinely sorry and was still sorry for lying to him but if he thought she was trying to seduce him to get out of trouble and it was working for him, Felicity was going to go with it. She continued to rub his chest and gaze up at him, their eyes locking intensely. Slowly, ever so slowly, his face inched toward hers.

“Oh for the love of God what is wrong with you two idiots?” John’s frustrated voice made them jump and broke them out of their trance. 

“You’re supposed to TALK, not jump each other’s bones with me in the same room! I can’t deal with this! There are some things a man; even an assassin should not have to see. You two sort yourselves out.” With an exasperated huff, John stormed out of the room, leaving them to stare sheepishly at each other.

***

“Why did you do it?” Oliver finally spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me you suspected Laurel? I would have taken care of it.”

“What would you have done Oliver? Confront her? She irritates you at the best of times and if I were to tell you I suspected she was responsible for an attempt on my life and drugging Sara would you have calmly formed a plan to trap her or would you have flown at her in rage?”

He didn’t respond immediately but instead took hold of her hands and pulled her into him. “You should have told me of your plan so that I could protect you while you were trying to trap her.”

“Would you really?” she murmured into his chest. “Would you really have agreed to let me go as bait? Or would you have locked me up and handled it yourself?”

“Well that’s what you did isn’t it?” he retorted, his voice tinged with a hint of bitterness. 

“We’ll never know what I would have done had you told me but you locked me up and handled it with John and Nyssa. We could just have left Felicity. We were due to leave in a few days and put all this behind us. But you had to go and solve this mystery because you couldn’t resist a mystery.” He was no longer angry, just sad and disappointed and somehow that hurt more than when he had been furious with her.

“It wasn’t about solving a mystery Oliver. I hate mysteries but it was never about solving a mystery. I did it for us, for our future children. I was so sure it was Laurel and she is so obsessed with you. I couldn’t run off into the sunset with you, knowing that one day someone insane out there might make an attempt at us again or worse at our kids. I know how much you yearn for a fresh start and a normal life. You’ve spent so many years reforming the League, righting the wrongs in the world, you deserve to walk away and have a fresh start without any threats. You deserve a chance at happiness. John and I wanted to give you your happily ever after.” 

She closed her eyes and pressed herself against his chest. Yes he was angry with her and it might take him a long time to forgive her but it felt so right just being in his arms. As long as she was in his arms she felt that they were going to be ok.

“You…you think about our children? You think about having kids with me? So much that you’re scared someone will harm them?” he smiled, looking at her with his trademark heart eyes. 

“Of course I think about our kids you silly man. I definitely want to have kids and who am I going to have them with if not you?” she grinned at him. After all this time how could the handsome fool still think there was anyone else for her but him. 

He leaned down and his lips found hers. The kiss started out soft and gentle but slowly became needy and urgent as the trauma of the last few hours without knowing where she was began to take its toll on Oliver. His kisses grew heated and soon his hands were roaming under her shirt, working to unclasp her bra. 

Felicity did not know how she did it but she somehow managed to summon the willpower to pull herself away from the kiss. “We…need…to…stop” she sighed breathlessly as he started to nibble on her ear. 

“Why?” he whispered. “Are you, Felicity Smoak, really saying no to make up sex? In a dungeon? I might even chain you up since you’ve been such a bad girl.”

Felicity let out a frustrated sob. 

“We need to go and meet with John, Nyssa and Sara to discuss how we’re going to deal with Laurel,” she responded with a groan. Damn crazy Laurel had not only saddled her with a bomb collar, she was now responsible for denying Felicity make up sex with Oliver! In a dungeon! With chains!

“Do we have to?” Oliver whined into her ear.

“Unfortunately yes,” Felicity sighed. “But you hold onto that thought about sex and dungeons and chains.”

“Felicity you never cease to amaze me with how bad you can be for someone who looks so angelic.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion to the story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!!!!
> 
> WE MADE IT!!!! LAST CHAPTER!!!! HURRAY!!! I FINISHED!!!!!!!
> 
> Thank you so much for everyone who read, commented and left kudos. I really enjoyed writing this story. It turned out very differently to what I had in mind but I had lots of fun writing it all the same!
> 
> Once again thank you for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the story!

“Where’s Nyssa?” Felicity asked once she settled into her seat in the war room, observing that Nyssa was missing from the proceedings. 

“Guarding Laurel personally,” John answered shoving a tablet in Felicity’s direction. “Since you’ve established that Laurel wasn’t working alone, we thought the safest thing to do was to have one of us guard her personally until we find out who Laurel’s cohorts are.”

Felicity glanced down and saw Nyssa meditating serenely next to a bed in which an unconscious Laurel lay. Felicity did a double take when she saw Laurel. Her shiny chestnut locks which Felicity had admired greatly (Felicity resented her own fluffy golden curls which everyone including crazy Laurel told her made her look like an Angel) were gone and in their place was a strange shingled haircut which looked like it had not been cut evenly but rather like the hair had been hacked at with a pair of blunt scissors. 

Felicity let out a small gasp, “What…what happened to her hair? It was fine when I handed her over.”

“Chicken you have no idea how impossible it is to unravel duct tape out of long hair after it has well and truly stuck on,” Sara replied, trying to look as solemn as she could and almost succeeding had it not been for the flicker of amusement in her eyes. “I have gone up against ten other trained fighters and won, stolen precious cargo whilst nursing a stab wound and being pursued by mask gunmen. But never have I done anything as impossible as trying to pull hair off duct tape. You got her back well and good for the bomb collar Chicken!”

“But I didn’t do it on purpose,” Felicity wailed in protest, completely missing the stormy look that had gathered on Oliver’s face. “I didn’t want to fight her if she woke up because, HELLO, she’s an assassin and all. So I did what was the most harmless way of disarming her. Couldn’t you have given her a nice layered cut or something instead of hacking all her hair off?”

“WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME ABOUT THE BOMB COLLAR?” Oliver thundered, causing Felicity to almost jump out of her skin. Instinctively she reached over and gripped both of his hands, giving them a squeeze. He responded by pulling her roughly onto his lap. 

“Umm I was going to tell you about the bomb collar Oliver. I really was. I was just trying to save you some additional stress so I was going to time it for when you were a little more preoccupied with other things so you wouldn’t get too upset,” Felicity gulped.

“And when did you think that was Felicity?” Oliver challenged angrily. “When we were away from here? A month from now? A year from now?”

“Actually I was going to tell you while you take me in the dungeons but then we had to forgo that to come here to discuss what we’re going to do with your crazy ex. So I figured the first chance I get to sex you up I was going to tell you about that bomb collar, preferably while you were in the throes of passion so you’d…”

“Oh for the love of God make her stop,” John spluttered, looking aghast as he tried to shove his giant fingers into his ears to drown out Felicity’s rant.

“I really don’t understand why you get so upset over the occasional slip about Oliver and I having sex John. What do you think we get up to in our spare time? It’s not like we’re just going to sit around and hold hands. Actually we do try to cool it sometimes but it always ends up……”

“Please. Stop. Talking,” John pleaded, his face sporting a combined look of agony and disgust at the same time. On the other side of the table Sara had dissolved into a peal of giggles, thanking her lucky stars that someone like Felicity existed. Someone who could still make her smile on a day where she had just found out that her own sister had betrayed her. 

Oliver placed a hand gently over Felicity’s mouth and pulled her closer to his chest. “Stop talking for now Felicity. We’ll discuss this later when I punish you in the dungeons,” he whispered lecherously into her ear. Felicity let out a high pitch yelp but stayed quiet after that, her eyes darkening considerably, clearly anticipating whatever punishment he had installed for her.

John cast them another exasperated glare before changing the subject. “What are we going to do with Laurel? Nyssa mentioned that she’s mentally unhinged?”

“That’s putting it mildly!” Felicity snorted, wrinkling her nose, making Oliver think for the millionth time how adorable she was when she was being unladylike. Felicity could make a snort look like the cutest thing on earth. 

“I thought she was just plain evil for drugging Sara and trying to kill me but now we’re not just dealing with run of the mill *muhahahahaha* evil. Girl is nuttier than a Christmas fruitcake!” Felicity continued before noticing Sara’s crestfallen face. She hopped off Oliver’s lap before he had a chance to protest and scooted over next to Sara.

“I’m sorry Sara I didn’t mean to be so insensitive. What I meant was I don’t think she did all this to you and I because she is pure evil but rather because she is very mentally unhinged. I don’t even think this is about good or bad anymore. I think Laurel is a very sick girl who needs some kind of help. What kind help I don’t know.”

“Mental issues or not we need to make sure she doesn’t remain a problem in the future,” Oliver’s voice was hard, bearing no trace of sympathy. “I need assurance and evidence that she won’t be a problem to my family in the future. I can’t have her loose one day when we have kids and grandkids running around.”

An uncomfortable silence descended over the room and Felicity suddenly wished that she were anywhere else but here. Not matter what had happened Laurel was still Sara’s sister, her only living relative and blood was always thicker than water.

“I had to give her a tranquilizer,” Sara finally broke the silence. “She was absolutely hysterical when she woke up, alternating between begging to see you Oliver and vowing to kill Felicity for having bested her. I don’t know what to do. I can’t keep her drugged up and locked away for life but we can’t institutionalize her either. Not with her assassin skill set. I really don’t know what to do.”

“I’m so sorry Sara Bear.”

“Don’t be Felicity,” Sara responded, giving Felicity a pat. “I owe you so much for putting yourself at risk to solve the mystery of who drugged me and why. It is heartbreaking to know that it was Laurel but in some ways I’m much more at peace now than when I was holed up on my own trying to replay that day over and over again to work out what happened. It hurts that my sister betrayed me but you’re my hero Chicken for finding the answers I needed.”

“How about the Peony Elixir?” John suggested after a few minutes had elapsed.

“That could work,” Oliver agreed grudgingly, looking somewhat satisfied with this particular suggestion. “As long as it’s dosed correctly and one of us does it first hand I would be comfortable with that solution.” Even Sara had perked up and was looking somewhat pleased by this suggestion.

“Peony Elixir? Care to explain guys?” Felicity asked, despite assuming that this was another one of their mysterious, mystical League of Assassins shenanigans. Felicity was a woman of science and regarded all the mystical, magical mumbo jumbo aspects of the League with great suspicion.

“The Peony Elixir is something that has been used by the League for generations on those we do not wish to kill but wish to wipe their memories completely. We use it on members who have earned their freedom to leave the League and who are willing to have their minds wiped and start over again,” John replied, giving her a brief run down as best as he could.

“You’re kidding right? A drug that wipes people’s memories? Everything? Every single memory they have ever had? Are you sure that this works? What are your statistics on this? Can I get a lab analysis of this stuff?” Although she had spent months with the League and had witnessed many things that were difficult to explain by science, the scientist in Felicity was finding it hard to accept this magical mind wipe drug.

“I’ve been with the League since I was eleven, Sara since she was thirteen and John many years before Sara and I. We have all witnessed this drug in affect. We’ve all, at some stage, have been dispatched to check on previous members who have taken this drug and there have been no failures.”

“So how does it work? The drug wipes their mind and you dump them somewhere and give them a back story with fake documents?” Felicity asked, the ever-practical side of her wanting to know the specifics on how everything was arranged.

“Something like that,” Oliver responded with a smile. Trust pragmatic Felicity to demand the nitty gritty mundane details rather than accepting the romanticized notion of the Peony Elixir. He paused for a few seconds before adding, “I…It was going to be the solution for me had you decided to leave me for good after I said all those terrible things to you that night.”

“You were going to wipe your mind completely if I left you? Oliver that’s crazy!” She wasn’t sure how it happened but suddenly she was back in his arms again. It all sounded a bit surreal but somehow she wasn’t surprised that the doofus would wipe his own brain if he lost her. It was so very Oliver.

“I couldn’t live without you Felicity. It was the only way I could think to live if you left me.”

“Oh Oliver,” Felicity sighed at the impossible man before her. “We need to have a chat about this Mister.”

“We need to have a chat about Laurel first,” John did not hesitate to bring them back in line.

“Ahh yes sorry guys! So how do we administer this Elixir? Will it just wipe away her memories but not her underlying mental condition?” Felicity queried. “Is her obsession with Oliver driving her off the deep end or is she just nuts in general? Because if she’s just crazy in general I don’t think we can comfortably inflict her on the unsuspecting public!”

“Once all the memories of Oliver, of myself, of everything are gone I think Laurel will be ok. We’ll give her a new identity. I’ll monitor her, set her up with an identity where she sees a counselor regularly. I think Oliver was always the root of her obsession so if she has no recollection of him there is no longer a reason for her to act out.” Sara sounded very convinced, even optimistic that this plan was going to work.

“Do you guys need to say goodbye? To see her one last time as herself before you wipe her mind forever? You’ve all been friends for so many years do you want to say goodbye to her?”

“The Laurel we knew and loved was probably gone years ago. She’s full of hate and venom now when she’s conscious. I don’t think fare welling her is a good idea as nice and sentimental as a goodbye sounds,” Sara answered. “I definitely don’t think Ollie should go anywhere near her as he’s likely the trigger which causes her to implode.”

“Sorry that was silly of me to suggest Oliver see her.” Felicity smiled a tiny sheepish smile. “In my defence I’ve never been the object of anyone’s obsession so I’ve never thought about what would set someone off if they were nuts about you.”

“Never been the object of anyone’s obsession?” John raised a judgmental eyebrow so high it threatened to vanish into his hairline as he glanced from Felicity to Oliver and then back to Felicity again. “Let’s see, Lover boy here has kidnapped you, jumped out of a plane after you, made you his consort, declared undying love to you multiple times upon first meeting you. What do you call that? A schoolboy crush?”

“Let’s put our focus back on the matter at hand.” Oliver interrupted him trying to sound as dignified as possible under the circumstances. “I’d really appreciate it if you could administer the Peony Elixir to Laurel personally seeing as Sara and I both have a complicated history with her.”

“That’s fine I’ll do it.”

“Thank you John,” Sara flashed him a sad grateful smile.

***

Felicity advanced slowly down the now familiar hallways, taking into account all the candlelit passages, nooks and dark corners that she had grown so accustomed to over the last few months. It had taken a great deal of persuasion but with Laurel safely resettled in another location and her followers apprehended, Oliver had finally relented and allowed Felicity to say her goodbyes in private without him guarding her. He had not said anything and only offered one tiny glare of disapproval when she showed him the gadgets she had on her body for self-protection. 

Thus here she found herself outside Nyssa’s door, pondering whether Nyssa was secretly a hugger or not. Felicity let out a chuckle as she considered her personal dilemma of whether or not to hug the extremely restrained assassin and recalled her first meeting with Nyssa. Who would have thought that they’d gone from smoke bombs and mace to potentially hugging? Felicity raised her hand to knock but the door swung wide open before she could make contact with the wood. Those super ninja skills certainly were handy to have.

“Hi!” she smiled, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious and shy. It was one thing to hatch a plan and catch a villain with Nyssa, it was extremely daunting and awkward to seek her out for the purposes of a sentimental goodbye. To her relief Felicity spotted Sara perched on Nyssa’s bed, looking a lot sprightlier than she had been in recent days now that the Laurel drama was behind them. 

“I just wanted to come and say goodbye. Tonight is our last night before we set off tomorrow. So yeah…I just wanted to say goodbye and to thank you for having my back and for being an all round general decent person that Oliver can comfortably pass on his Ra’s Al Ghul mantle to. I also wanted to give you this code to use. It will give you free access to any in game purchases for any of my games. Assuming you’re still interested in them.”

To Felicity’s complete utter shock and amazement, the famously undemonstrative Nyssa launched at her and pulled her into a tight, albeit extremely brief hug before untangling herself and looking stoic like the rash display of affection had never taken place. 

“You are very welcome Felicity Smoak. I consider you a friend for life. You are a truly remarkable warrior and game creator,” Nyssa replied solemnly, as she raised her hand across her chest and bowed towards Felicity.

“Err thanks for remarking on it,” Felicity offered back awkwardly, ignoring Sara who looked like she was about to dissolve into a fit of giggles. 

“I will leave you to say your goodbyes to My Love,” Nyssa bowed at her again and left the room in a flurry, desperate to get away from the awkward sentimental exchange. 

“I know you’re running off to test that code out on all her games,” Sara called out after Nyssa, letting out a peal of laughter. 

“Chicken,” Sara uttered fondly once she had recovered from her laughing fit, holding her arms out towards Felicity. 

“Sara Bear!”

Felicity leapt into Sara’s arms and gave her a big bear hug. “Don’t tell anyone but I’m going to miss you the most,” she declared emphatically.

***

“I suppose this means you’ll never run another lap or do another pushup again without me there to bark commands at you and keep you on track,” John smiled fondly at her, trying his hardest to muster up a look of disapproval. 

“I will!” Felicity protested. “I promise I will not let all this training go to waste. Oliver is going to give me a good work out every day and I…” Felicity shut up as she watched John wince at her words. “Sorry! That came out sounding slightly dirty but it wasn’t supposed to. What I meant was…”

“I don’t think we need to get into what you meant or didn’t mean,” John interrupted quickly. “Let’s just have a fond farewell without anymore references to you -working out- with Oliver okay.”

“I’m going to miss you John. I know you had reservations about me at the beginning but you’re like the big brother I never had. I am going to miss you so much.”

John leaned down to her level and smiled at her, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze. 

“The only reservation I had was the fact that our boy went full rogue and decided to kidnap you. The Oliver I knew, or thought I knew over the years would have never done anything as erratic as that, especially over a girl. I thought he was having some sort of mental break and I was worried that you were just plucky and stringing him along while you plotted your escape. But you’ve been the best thing that’s happened to him. You’ve given him the love and happiness he deserves and you have enough power in all of your meager five foot five inches to rein him in. I’m very happy for you both. Take care of him for me ok? And keep him in line.”

“I promise!” Felicity beamed at him. “Now can I have the biggest bear hug from you John? Did you know my first thought when I saw you was that you looked like a giant Teddy bear who could crush people’s bones?”

***

“How did it go?” Oliver asked as she emerged through the door, his eyes shining like two brilliant blue sapphires as they zeroed in on her. “Did you get to say all your goodbyes?”

“I’m going to miss them,” Felicity sighed. “I’m going to miss this place!”

“I think you’ll miss it more than I will,” Oliver teased, grabbing her arm and pulling her onto his lap. 

“I’ve grown accustomed to this place,” Felicity admitted before giving him a sly smile. “Especially the dungeons. It will be my one regret in life that we did not discover the dungeons earlier.”

“And to think you jumped out of a plane just to avoid all this. Perhaps I should have offered up the dungeon earlier?” Oliver smiled as he nuzzled into her neck.

“Speaking of dungeons,” Felicity turned around and straddled him, a devilish smile glossing over her face. “I have disabled every single camera in the dungeon and shut down all the entrances to the dungeons so that only I can access them. So what do you say Oliver? Shall we have one last hurrah before we leave?” she whispered.

Oliver responded by pulling her in for a rough kiss, assaulting her lips while his hands grabbed her buttocks only to discover that she already wet and not wearing any underwear. 

“Have you been running around without underwear all this time?” he growled possessively as she let out a laugh.

“Maybe,” Felicity replied in a singsong voice. “Or maybe I just go somewhere, get rid of my underwear and touch myself before I see you.”

Oliver grunted and pushed his hands under her dress. “Why are you so bad Felicity. So so so bad. Always bad.”

“Oliver,” Felicity moaned, trying to pull away from him. “Dungeon! Take me in the dungeon. And bring a gag. I have a feeling I’m going to be loud tonight.”

He responded with a feral growl, tossing her over his shoulder before heading off to the dungeons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to write a fluffy epilogue but I think this version of Olicity ended up in a good place so I didn't see the point of leaving one last chapter uncompleted.
> 
> If I do ever get around to writing that fluffy epilogue I will tack it on as chapter 15.


	15. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your Epilogue!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHUC MUNG NAM MOI!!!!!!
> 
> The vietnamese believe how you start a new year is how it will continue throughout the year. As it is Lunar New Year I thought I'd start off with an auspicious Olicity epilogue with nothing but fluff so that we can all enjoy great Olicity vibes in the year of the Rooster.
> 
> hahaha yes I'm that crazy!
> 
> But I do hope you all enjoy this epilogue!

**Three Months after Nanda Parbat**

“NOOOOO!!!!” Felicity bellowed hysterically at him. “Get it away from me.” A few months earlier this kind of response would have destroyed him, especially since he was currently kneeling down on one knee, delivering a heart felt proposal in the middle of a lush green vineyard in the Hunter Valley in Australia. This was the last stop of their tour and he had been plotting this moment ever since they left the League. Safe to say he was slightly confused as to why the love of his life was screaming at him with a look of fear in her eyes.

He had learned a thing or two in the last few months touring the world with Felicity, mainly how much she loved him, so he didn’t react the way he normally would, didn’t feel the fear that he would normally have felt. He calmly stood up and pulled her in for a hug, enveloping her with his muscular arms. “Shhhh Felicity what is the matter?”

K…..K…..Kangaroo,” she stammered, still sporting a wild eye look. “Get me out of here. P……Pl…..Please.”

“Oh honey,” he suppressed the urge to chuckle but could not quite contain the amusement in his voice. With one swoop he had her safely ensconced in his arms as he made his way back to their suite overlooking the vineyard.

***

“So is that a yes?” he nuzzled his face in her silky golden curls as she sat on his lap, admiring the 1.5 carat, heart shaped Fancy Pink diamond, set in a double halo of pink and white diamonds.

“Of course it’s a yes! How could it be anything but a yes Oliver? Who else am I going to marry if I say no to the brooding ex assassin with abs I could grate cheese on?” she giggled, tilting her head up to give him an eskimo kiss.

“Are you ok with it though? You’ve probably lived for this moment and I screamed bloody murder at you while you were down on one knee. Would you like a do over?”

“It wouldn’t be you Felicity if you just said yes to my proposal without yelling hysterically at a kangaroo first,” he laughed.

“Oliver I love Australia and I love the Hunter Valley and all the wine, OMG the wine but it’s such a pity they have kangaroos roaming everywhere around these parts. It’s not safe for someone like me. I feel like they’re watching me with their beady little eyes, waiting to pounce on me because I insulted them in my game.” Felicity’s eyes darted around suspiciously as she said this, as if she were expecting a kangaroo to jump out any minute and seek retribution upon her.

Oliver did the only thing he could do when she looked like this and pulled her in for a kiss. Words could not describe how much he loved this woman. She was everything and she had promised to be his. Always.

 

**Six Months after Nanda Parbat**

“Oliver I can’t do this,” Felicity wailed as she slinked down into the passenger seat of their car. Their six-month furlough was over and now it was time to resume real life.

“Can’t do what honey?” Oliver responded calmly behind the wheel.

“Us! Real life! We aren’t going to make it in real life with each other Oliver!” Felicity declared passionately, feeling a little annoyed that he was not taking her concerns seriously.

“And why do you think that Felicity?” Oliver was apparently unperturbed at the prospect of their life together in the real world.

“Because I don’t bath sometimes,” Felicity whispered scandalously. “You think you kidnapped and fell in love with this pretty girl with the shiny curls who smells like flowers but the truth is I’m just your run of the mill programmer with some hard wired programmer traits. When I get fixated on a certain bit of code that stumps me sometimes I sit there all night and I don’t shower!”

She made a sweeping motion over her body. “This here is an illusion! Sometimes I don’t shower for two days if I’m really knee deep in code! Are you sure you want to marry that?”

Oliver couldn’t contain his chuckle any longer. He had kidnapped her because in the brief few seconds that he first laid eyes on her she represented the light he so desperately needed in his life. What he got was a fiercely intelligent, brave, loving and humorous woman who had given him everything he had hoped for and things he hadn’t dared hope for.

He took one hand off the steering wheel and intertwined his fingers around hers. “I think we’ll be alright Felicity. Maybe after one day of non showering I’ll carry you into the shower myself and scrub you down.”

 

**One Year after Nanda Parbat**

“Tinkerbell to Green Arrow, SCPD have been called and are scheduled to arrive in fifteen minutes. Just letting you know so you can wrap this up and head home.”

“Got it Tinkerbell,” Oliver responded as he tied the last unconscious thug to pole and made his exit. “Do you need me to pick anything up on the way home Tinkerbell?”

“Just two pints of mint chip and some Rainier cherries if you can find them,” she responded. This was one of her favourite parts of the day. Taking down criminals and coming home to snack on dessert or each other. Usually both.

**Four Years after Nanda Parbat**

“How can this happen to us?” Felicity howled as she stared at the two pink lines on the pregnancy test. The last time she had ugly cried like this was when Oliver kidnapped her, all those years ago. Somehow this felt even worse. At least back then they were unencumbered and young and there was an element of romance (albeit twisted) to being kidnapped by a hot assassin. Back then she was thin and pretty and could seduce said Assassin. Now she was going to look like a beach whale in a few months and push something the size of a watermelon out of her body. They were going to be saddled with a tiny screaming baby who wasn’t going to sleep. They’d never go on a date again and never travel again. Their lives were over. She let out another gut wrenching yowl at the prospect of this.

“This is what generally happens when you give up the pill and try for a baby honey,” Oliver replied soothingly, gently wiping away her tears and snot, just like he had done all those years ago. “We’re ready remember? We talked about this? Smoak Solutions is growing and making a profit. We’ve finally managed to find a career that we both enjoy. It’s the right time for this to happen honey. It’s perfect timing for us.”

“Everybody says it takes months if not years to conceive after the pill,” she howled some more. “We didn’t even get to try that many times. Damn you and your virile assassin genes. This is all your fault!” She made an attempt to push him away and broke down into another series of sobs.

“We can’t have a baby! We’re vigilantes! We’re going to get arrested one day and bub will be an orphan unless Ray and Anna offer to take bub in. Oh poor motherless and fatherless bub.” She continued her deafening howl as she imagined a sandy haired, blue-eyed chubby toddler, sitting in the dirt eating a crust of bread while she and Oliver looked on from prison.

“Oh honey. Shhhh It’s all going to be alright,” Oliver pulled her into a tight hug. “We said we were quitting the extra curricular activities remember? My knee isn’t what it used to be and I want more time to focus on the personal security side of Smoak Solutions anyway.” She stopped howling for a minute and sniffled instead which Oliver took as a win.

“Can we really do this Oliver? Are you still going to love me when I am the sized of a beach whale?” she demanded, the tears threatening to fall again. Pregnancy has really done a number on her mood Oliver thought. His sunny, perennially confident wife was a bit of an emotional mess, a role that was usually reserved for him and his insecurities that a girl like her could love someone like him.

“You’re going to leave me when I’m fat,” Felicity wailed when he didn’t answer quickly enough. “And to think I was once the love of your life, your sunshine and you had to have me so you kidnapped me. Bet you wouldn’t kidnap me now. Bet you wouldn’t kidnap me if you could do it all over.”

“Oh Felicity darling. Of course I’d still kidnap you if I could do it all over again. And I’ll love you no matter how big you get.” He kissed her forehead fondly and nuzzled her nose before adding with a sly smile. “I’ll love you even more because there will be more of you to love.”

This seemed to appease Felicity for some reason and her tears subsided. “We can do this right Oliver? We’ve dealt with worse than this right? I mean you took down the old Ra’s and I disabled a bomb collar. We can handle a baby right? They’re generally pretty harmless?”

“Of course we can honey,” he smiled, thinking how adorable she looked with her shimmering baby blue eyes and slightly pink from crying button nose. “We’re the dynamic duo of Smoak Solutions remember?”

“Smoak Solutions for all your online and personal security needs,” she recited the company’s motto automatically.

“We’ll handle it Felicity. As long as we’re together we can handle anything. And you’ve got to remember that no matter what you’re the love of my life okay?”

“Okay,” she pouted, completely unaware of how alluring and vulnerable she looked. God he wanted to kiss her. So he did.

**Four Years and Three Months after Nanda Parbat**

“Do you notice anything?” Dr Harris asked as he moved the ultrasound scanner across Felicity’s baby bump.

“Err is that blob the baby?” Felicity responded pointing at an obvious blob on the screen.

Oliver was concentrating intensely, not wanting to miss a single moment of this part of their new journey.

“This here is the heart of your baby,” Dr. Harris pointed to one blob. “Up here is the heart of your other baby. Congratulations Oliver and Felicity. You’re having twins.”

Felicity’s first instinct was one of relief. Relief that she was lying down and couldn’t topple over in light of this news. She gaped at the screen in disbelief, before staring at Oliver to see what his reaction was. There was nothing but sheer joy on her husband’s face. Total and utter joy. Felicity didn’t think she had ever seen him so happy. Not even the day they got married.

Her panic subsided a bit at the look of wonder on his face. However that was not enough to stop her from grabbing Dr Harris’s arm and declaring wildly, “Dr. Harris! You move that scanner around and you check that screen again for any other blobs! You make sure there isn’t a third blob hiding somewhere in the corner! I don’t want anymore surprises!”

“I’m pretty sure there’s only two in there Felicity,” the good doctor replied with an amused chuckle.

***  


They had just finished a meal of roast pork belly with crispy crackling, truffled potato puree, sage jus and assorted sautéed vegetables (Oliver was adamant that Felicity had to eat some veggies from now on no matter what her views were about them) when Oliver noticed a single tear roll down her cheek. He moved over just in time when the howling began.  


"Oliver I've just realised we can't do this, we're going to be terrible parents," she howled pitifully.  


"Why ever not honey?" he asked calmly, pulling her onto his lap.  


"Because we don't have space to keep the babies," she wailed tearfully. "The spare room is full of junk! It's unfit for babies. Where are we going to keep the twins Oliver?"  


"Do you remember that house we bought in Ivy Town as an investment when Ray and Anna bought their place after they decided to move in together?"  


"Yup, the current tenants’ lease is expiring soon on that house actually. I was reviewing our property portfolio the other day," Felicity responded, tears temporarily halted. Felicity was all business when it came to money matters.  


"Well how about you don't renew the lease on that property, I'll take some vacation days and refresh the place, prepare the nurseries and get it ready for when the twins arrive?"  


"It does have five bedrooms," Felicity admitted, calming down somewhat. "And a lovely yard. Do you think we could put a trampoline in the yard Oliver? And a cubby house? Oh Oliver thank goodness we bought that house! And we're going to be neighbours with Ray and Anna!!!" Felicity clapped her hands gleefully her eyes shining.

**Nine Years after Nanda Parbat**

“Daddy throw another handful of chia seeds into the muffins,” four year old Eric Queen instructed enthusiastically as he sat perched on the marble kitchen bench top, in nothing but a pair of bright green underpants as it was a boiling hot day. He was giving his father advice on what needed to be done with the batch of apple and raisin muffins they were currently making. 

“I think I’ve added enough. Your mum is going to start detecting them in the muffins if we add anymore,” Oliver replied, eyeing the dry ingredients in the bowl critically. Felicity was and would always be the girl of his dreams but he did not approve of her less than stellar eating habits, which involved eating lots of rich foods or junk food and avoiding most things green and anything that she deemed “seedy”. He had worked hard to train the twins taste buds against this trait of hers with marvelous success and these days it was a battle of three against one when it came to Felicity’s eating habits.

“Mummy will just need to learn and eat nutrient dense food like the rest of us,” Ethan Queen chimed in, parroting his father’s often-repeated words, looking rather stern and somewhat offended. 

“If she dares to protest against our muffins why I’ll….” the sandy haired, blue-eyed preschooler paused for a second to find his words. “I’ll give her a lecture,” he finally settled on, pouting and furrowing his eyebrows ferociously in a way that only a four year old could. 

Ethan Queen was a force of nature. He had his father’s coordination, gross and fine motor skills coupled with his mother’s fiery spirit. A combination that would have been easy enough to manage, had he been an only child and did not have constant access to his partner in crime. Ethan was a child full of spirit and action who would often barged headfirst into things, however he was not the most persistent child and when met with resistance or obstacles would quickly abandon his mischief.

“Do you think it would have been less noticeable to throw chia seeds into her chocolate chip muffins Daddy?” Eric asked thoughtfully. 

Eric was the other troublesome half of the dynamic duo. What he lacked in Felicity’s fiery spirit, he made up for with Oliver’s gentle soul. Like his father Eric Queen was a bit of a dreamer. However like his mother Eric Queen also possessed a strong will and the sheer drive to achieve any goal he had his heart set on. He loved a good plan and had the brains to execute the most complex of plans. It was never Eric’s idea to pursue mischief but he loved his twin brother dearly and would often go to great lengths to fine tune ideas and clobber up various contraptions to aid in whatever mischievous task Ethan had his heart set on. 

Their most infamous achievement was the time they managed to cut off a chunk of Aunt Nyssa’s black curls when they were merely three years old. When confronted by a very angry Aunt Nyssa they had stared at her wide eyed citing “The Devil made me do it,” repeatedly (a last minute touch added on by Eric after an engaging conversation with his mother about demons and monsters a few weeks earlier) which had given poor Aunt Nyssa a considerable fright (Mummy had said Aunt Nyssa didn’t scare easy and Ethan wanted to know if this was true or not). 

Aunt Nyssa was nervous around youngsters the twins had discovered, making her the perfect victim for their pranks whenever she and Aunt Sara visited from their travels. They had apologized profusely for that particular transgression although Aunt Nyssa always looked at them with much suspicion after that incident. 

Ethan and Eric never meant any harm. It was hard being four. Nobody ever really understood what it was like to be four, not even mummy and she was the most child like adult they knew. Mummy read them books with such gusto and enthusiasm. No one loved children’s books, songs and games as much as Mummy did but even Mummy had her limitations and would sometimes rain on their parade. Sometimes you just had to do things in order to find things out and learn about the world. Often they found themselves doing things they were not supposed to do. 

***

“Ethan your clothes are on the bed sweetheart. Go do a wee, change into your clothes, put your shoes on and we’re heading off,” Felicity breezed into the kitchen, wearing tiny cut off denim shorts and a fitted T shirt with pictures of sharks on it, looking more like a hot young nanny than the mother of twin boys. 

When the twins were around 18 months, Felicity and Oliver had devised a plan where every fortnight they each took one child separately for a day. Being identical twins (their only distinguishing feature was that Eric had his father’s darker blue eyes, while Ethan had Felicity’s baby blue eyes) the boys had done everything together since they were born but after observing their kids’ distinct personalities, Felicity and Oliver had thought it was a good idea to let each child have some alone time, some time to feel like they were an only child and to pick whatever activity they wanted to pursue without always having to cooperate with a sibling. 

Thus every fortnight Felicity took one twin out for a day and Oliver the other twin. The next fortnight they would swap. Every other weekend consisted of family outings and on Saturday nights Felicity and Oliver hired a regular babysitter for date nights.

“Mummy can we go for ice cream after the aquarium?” Ethan asked, grabbing Felicity’s waist and gazing up at her adoringly.

“Of course baby,” Felicity smiled. 

“Only one scoop,” Oliver chimed in. “And remember you don’t have to finish it if you get sick of the taste.” 

As sophisticated as the twins’ palates were, they were still four year olds with a sweet tooth much to Oliver’s dismay. He was constantly trying to find discreet ways to reduce their sugar intake (which was not much at all Felicity would argue) and Felicity could see Oliver physically reel whenever the twins ate anything processed with refine sugar. 

“Mummy I want to come too,” Eric piped up, also making a beeline for Felicity. She ruffled his hair affectionately and kissed the top of his head. “Next time baby. You’re spending time with Daddy, baby Bridgette and Uncle Ray remember? You said you wanted baby cuddles so Uncle Ray is bringing Bridgette over today.”

“Uncle Ray is bringing Bridgette over because she’s a fussy baby and Daddy is the Baby Whisperer.” Eric countered honestly before beaming and adding, “But I do like Bridgette cuddles!”

“She’s so cuuuuute,” he cooed. “I’m going to sort out my toy sharks and give Bridgette one.” With that Eric bounded up the stairs to his room, Ethan hot on his heels, also intending to find a gift for Bridgette so as to not be outdone by his brother. 

Eric loved his twin dearly but he yearned for a baby sister. Oliver and Felicity had discussed this and as the twins got older, they felt like their window for another baby had passed. Things were easier now, the boys were going to preschool and due to start Kindy the following year, they couldn’t quite bring themselves to struggle through the baby stages again. They had grand plans to take the boys on a trip around the world, like they had done together many years ago. This led to five-month-old Bridgette Palmer being the very much revered and adored baby in the Smoak Queen household, much to her frazzled parents relief.

“Ohh are those muffins I see,” Felicity grabbed a fresh muffin from the rack and proceeded to munch on it, completely missing the chia seeds that had been added. “What are you boys planning to do today?”

“If I can get Bridgette down for a long nap, I’ll send Ray off for a nap too. You should have seen him the last time he came over. The guy looked shattered. Eric wants some practice on his bike without training wheels today. I think he wants to ride without the pressure of Ethan zooming around him.”

“You’re a superhero Oliver Queen!”

Felicity stood on her tiptoes as Oliver leaned down to kiss her. It was incredible how far they had come from the days in Nanda Parbat and the foggy days of early parenthood. Most surprisingly was Oliver’s unexpected friendship with Ray, which had been born from a mutual love of cooking (Ray packed a mean picnic spread), chia puddings and coconut water. Felicity often teased that Oliver was only friends with Ray because he was the only other grown up who enjoyed those awful chia shakes Oliver whipped up besides the twins.

“Date Night tonight,” Felicity whispered in a singsong voice, returning his kiss with vigor. Knowing the twins they were probably distracted by yet another game they had invented together and wouldn’t be down for a while.

“Oh I’ve been looking forward to it all week Felicity,” Oliver growled, cupping his hands on her ever-pert bottom and giving it a squeeze.


End file.
